


Read My Mind, Break My Heart

by oinkjungjung



Series: Read My Mind [2]
Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Angst, M/M, Mind Reading, Stockholm Syndrome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 02:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 31,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23427379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oinkjungjung/pseuds/oinkjungjung
Summary: Reincarnated as a human, will Zhengting's powers be a blessing or a curse?aka part two in the three part series of zhengkun: the star-crosssed lovers
Relationships: Cai Xukun/Zhu Zhengting | Jung Jung
Series: Read My Mind [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1667749
Comments: 13
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will be the main one in the series. For the most part, it should be understandable even without reading the other parts. The previous fic in this series helps with world building purposes and it introduces the side characters + zhengkun's previous life. I would recommend reading the previous part but it's not necessary!

It had happened on a beautiful day, the sun was shining bright with just the right amount of shade from the clouds that cooled down the land without overshadowing all that warm sunlight.

But wasn’t that pretty much every other day? It didn’t matter though because to everyone in the Zhu family, it was the most beautiful day. Because the baby boy they were expecting is finally here.

From the very moment cries sounded throughout the delivery room, the couple could distinctly feel a gush of joy welling in their hearts. They are parents now.

As the doctor carefully placed the crying baby in their arms, the young parents cradled the tiny bundle so cautiously as though the baby boy was the most precious little treasure ever to be found. Reaching a finger out, the mother lightly caressed the baby’s cheeks, only to have the crying mess open his eyes to stare at the one poking him.

It was then the baby stopped crying, stopping to blink those big round eyes a couple of times while tilting his head slightly to one side. The adorable sight amused the couple and all the doctors and nurses around.

“He’s such a curious little fellow,” one of the nurses commented.

Then, reaching a tiny little hand out, the baby grabbed onto his mother’s finger and smiled, eyes bright and teethless gums showing themselves off proudly.

At that point, the hearts of every single person in the delivery room melted at this adorable slight. 

“Welcome, little one.”

While the couple did not know the reasons behind this precious memory of theirs at that point in time, they would soon figure it out as the baby boy, Zhengting, grew up.

The first time they had a clue that something was up was when the tiny baby that was Zhengting could always seem to figure out what they were thinking even without having said it. And even if they did, was the barely one year old baby supposed to understand them so well?

There had been numerous occasions whereby the tiny bundle would be all ready for his meal or his toy even before the young parents had even made to grab either. Even if Zhengting had been playing with his toys previously, all it took was one look and the baby would be leaving all those toys behind as he crawled towards his parents, all ready for a little “mum mum” to feed his little tum tum.

Such instances were a common occurrence in the Zhu family throughout Zhengting’s entire childhood. The couple had originally just wrote it off as Zhengting being a perceptive kid but that was again until their baby boy grew a little older and started saying some things that just didn’t make sense.

On more than one occasion, Zhengting had mentioned about supposed “voices in his head”. And the way he would just say out exact sentences that his parents were thinking of could not have been a mere coincidence. And that was when the incredulous thought occurred in their heads, that their baby boy could somehow read people’s minds.

The started testing him, making him guess numbers and words that they were thinking of and no matter how many times they repeated this test, Zhengting always managed to get it right in his first attempt, confidently yelling “Potato!” when his parents told him to guess a colour.

By the time they finally came to the conclusion that yes, their child could read minds, Zhengting was already five years old. Thinking that their baby boy was now old enough for them to actually discuss this phenomenon with him, especially given how he had very clearly developed faster than most babies, the couple sat Zhengting down one day for a talk, of which the gravity was not something Zhengting could yet understand.

After spending an entire afternoon, the couple finally seemed to understand their baby boy’s situation a little better. Thankfully, Zhengting had always been a shy and obedient kid, otherwise seating him down the entire time would have only been possible when pigs fly. 

So basically, Zhengting could read people’s thoughts just by looking at them. And over time, Zhengting had even developed the ability to speak in people’s minds. Yes, the couple found out about this when Zhengting had first did it on them on accident. At that time, Zhengting didn’t even notice what he was doing, he had no idea he could speak in people’s minds. But thankfully, this all happened right before Zhengting was of age to attend elementary school and with this new discovery, the couple knew for sure that they were going to home school Zhengting.

While they never once mentioned it to Zhengting, they did this to protect him from complicated and harsh world outside. Zhengting was merely seven at that time, how could they possibly expose the kid to whatever horrifying secrets people may have deep down.

Luckily, the Zhu family had the means to carry out this idea. While they were definitely not the wealthist family out there, not even close, they were definitely one of the better to do families. Hence, how they could afford to shelter Zhengting away from the outside world while showering him with nothing but love since birth.

So, home schooling it was. And until they taught and trained him to not use his powers, they didn’t even bring Zhengting anywhere further than their backyard.

Of course Zhengting did eventually learn to control his powers and as obedient as he was, he also never used them again except for those few obviously harmless situations such as when he needed to tell his parents something but didn’t want to leave his room to tell them.

Despite how badly they would love to protect their baby boy forever, there will come a day when he grows up. And this day came in the form of Zhengting very meekly asking to attend university. Deep down, Zhengting always kind of knew how badly his parents were against him going out. He knew the reasons of course, but he couldn’t quite say he understood why. So when he had finally gave himself enough of a pep talk and requested to attend school, he was honestly expecting to be rejected.

But similar to how Zhengting knew that his parents were against it, they also knew of how badly he wanted to go out and make friends, to experience the life most people had, the life he would have had if he hadn’t had this special ability. So after making Zhengting promise repeatedly to never use his powers on others, they agreed, commencing Zhengting’s first step into society.

Throughout this entire nineteen years, the remaining three guardians watched over Zhengting. After the accident at the trench, none of them could locate either Zhengting or Xukun, had no idea what happened to either of them.

When Linkai finally tracked both of them down, they soon realised that both of them had reincarnated into the other world, signaling the end of both their lives on the previous. They had been in shock initially, not quite believing what they had found out and having absolutely no clue as to how it happened. 

But after some time, they all accepted it, especially after Zhangjing had portalled over to see the loving family Zhengting was born in.

“After spending hundreds of years protecting this world, I guess he deserves a little break,” Wenjun commented, genuinely happy for Zhengting because he had always knew the burden he felt from his role. Even though he would have loved to be in Zhangjing’s place, to be able to go watch over Zhengting personally, he decided that a lifetime was worth waiting.

It was not like they could interfere with Zhengting’s new life anyway.

Years flew by peacefully and before long, Zhengting had already completed his final year of university. Throughout his time there, he finally got to experience the school life that everyone else would refer to as mundane. But for him, it was a precious memory that he would cherish all his life.

He finally got to interact with people outside of the small group he grew up with. While not everyone he met was the nicest to him, with the occasional annoyed uncle and aunties shushing him for being to loud, he found that most people treated him politely. Not to mention how his overall cheerful and innocent demeanor drew a small group of close friends to him, making him the baby of the group as they continuously pampered him with love.

Whenever they would learn of something Zhengting had never tried or heard of, they would fight to be the first to introduce him to it. With them, Zhengting visited the arcade for the first time, had his very first hotpot buffet, and had his first ever sleepover at one of the friend’s house.

The time they spent together was fun and Zhengting was glad he got a chance to experience this supposedly normal life, even if it meant having to hide his powers away.

Three years had passed and the now twenty-two years old Zhengting was about to graduate and take his first step into adulthood. For the past few months, Zhengting had been discussing with his parents about what is to happen after he graduated. Again, there was the part in his parents that wanted to shield him away for his entire life, but they knew that that wouldn’t be fair to him. Especially given how Zhengting had indeed kept his promise throughout his university years, keeping his powers away and leading a normal life without trouble, it only seemed right for them to let their son decide his own path.

With this, Zhengting shared the same final year experience as his friends, making promises to keep in contact as they started to seek out the next chapter of their lives.

As Zhengting headed on stage to collect his graduation certificate, he couldn’t help but to sneak at look at where his knew his parents were seated, wanting to see how proud they were of him at that moment. While taking his photo with the professor on stage, Zhengting joked with his parents, speaking to them with his powers, “Is mom crying?”

After the photo was taken, right before Zhengting was about to start getting off the stage, he sneaked another look at his parents and saw his father’s reply to him, “Your mother is really proud of you.”

None of this were spoken out of course, but this was the way the Zhu family have learned to communicate when they were apart, making use of Zhengting’s special abilities which could not be used otherwise.

This was supposed to be a simple exchange between the family, intimate and private. However, as Zhengting was reading his father’s mind for his reply, he accidentally read someone else’s mind too. His parents were seated at the back, behind the entire block of students. So from where Zhengting was on stage, his parents appeared really small, taking up only a small fraction of his sight as so many other people were within his sight. 

This is not the first time something like this have occurred of course, Zhengting would always just ignore everyone else. But this time, he found that he couldn’t, not when the words in that person’s mind read, “That’s him, the one that can read minds. Everyone keep an eye on the target, we must get him.”

As Zhengting slowly got off stage, movements a little awkward as shock took over his entire mind, he headed back to the row of seats with all the other students. This whole exchange had merely lasted for a minute or so but it felt like hours to Zhengting as so much happened in his head.

Just as Zhengting was about to start entering the row of seats, he decided he had to leave, he wouldn’t be able to leave without attracting a lot of attention until after the ceremony otherwise once he is settled in his seats between many other students.

Talking with his parents again, Zhengting told them to leave immediately and to meet at the entrance that was near the parking lots. “Don’t panic, act normal,” Zhengting added.

Despite how his parents acted, whoever was after him had already sprung into action when Zhengting himself left. 

When Zhengting and his parents met up outside, he could see all the questions appearing in their heads, because now that they might be in danger, Zhengting decided it was not the time to hide his powers away, not when they might be able to help them escape. Holding onto his parents hands, Zhengting led them off to their car while reassuring them that he will explain once they are safe.

Despite his efforts, they were soon surrounded by a huge crowd. Sweeping his eyes over all of them, Zhengting’s mind was drowned in thoughts about capturing him. Panic started to grow in him as he was overwhelmed by all the malicious thoughts all these people were having. Eyes darting around rapidly, Zhengting tried to figure out a way out of this.

Then, at that moment, a voice spoke, drowning out all the other voices in Zhengting’s head. The voice was low and steady, sounding so confident as though the owner knew he was in control here, not at all similar to the hushed voices Zhengting head in his head. The person was speaking out loud.

“You can read our minds all you want but all you will find is that there is no way for you to escape, we considered every possibility. Even if you know what we are thinking, you still can’t magically conjure up a way out if there is no loophole in our plan,” the voice sounded from behind, prompting Zhengting to immediately turn towards it, pushing his parents behind him.

There, stood who Zhengting assumed was the man from before, the one whose mind he accidentally read back in the auditorium. Up close, Zhengting found him much more intimidating than before. The man was young, probably around his age, but the air around him was tense and strong. He may be young, but he was not one to be trifled with. 

Seeing the way Zhengting was acting, the man felt a slight tug at the corner of his lips. Smirking, he said, looking straight into Zhengting’s eyes as though challenging him, “There’s no way out and you know it, so why not cooperate with me? Come with me and your parents are free to go.”

Hearing this, Zhengting’s parents immediately pulled him back, trying to hide him behind them as they stood a little taller, trying to appear strong for their baby boy.

The man’s smirk fell as all emotion on his face faded away, hiding everything he was feeling perfectly, making Zhengting the only one who could read the slightest hint of impatience in him. “Don’t force me to take action,” he said right as violent thoughts appeared in his mind that were picked up by Zhengting, further enforcing the threat he was making.

Seeing how the man would stop at nothing to get him, Zhengting fists clenched at his sides before he slowly approached the man. His parents tried to stop him, pull him back but Zhengting insisted as he spoke in their heads again, “There’s no other way.”

When Zhengting was right in front of the man, head slightly lowered as compared to the way the latter was standing tall and confident, the man reached a hand out, tilting Zhengting’s chin up so that they were meeting eye to eye and whispered, “Don’t worry, they will be safe I can assure you that. And if you cooperate, I’ll even let you see them.”

Seeing the man lay his hands on their son, Zhengting’s parents tried to approach, wanting to pull him back behind them again but a few of the people from the crowd made to stop them. 

Taking the strip of black cloth from his underlings, the man tied it around Zhengting’s head, covering his eyes. “Just to be safe. Can’t have you snooping around our heads too much,” he said. 

As Zhengting was led off onto a car, the man said to Zhengting’s parents, “Don’t call the cops. That is if you still want to keep your son’s powers a secret. Who knows what will happen once word gets out.”

While Zhengting may not be able to see, thus not being able to read minds, he could still speak to people in their minds. Zhengting could have told the people around that he was captured, but that would mean exposing his powers to the world. Thus, Zhengting chose to reassure his parents he was still safe throughout the entire journey on the car instead, even though he could not hear back from them this time round. He did so even when he knew they were too far away to hear him anymore. 

After a long ride, the car pulled to a stop and Zhengting could feel himself being led into some building and into an elevator, the inertia from the ascend obvious. The whole time, he could hear lots of chatter and footsteps all around him, even though they didn’t dare to approach. 

Once the elevator had stopped, doors opened, Zhengting was led down a long corridor. This time round, it was completely silent, contrasting greatly with all the noise downstairs. Maybe it was the lack of both his sense of sight and the overly quiet surroundings, but Zhengting found himself becoming acutely aware of the hand resting on his arm, right above his elbow, as he was led down the corridor. 

Then, when they stopped yet again, six distinct beeps sounded, resembling the sound those digital number locks would make. And not long after, Zhengting found himself being seated on a soft mattress before the blindfold was swiftly taken off.

For a short moment, he was blinded from the sudden exposure to light but when his sight came back, Zhengting immediately started using his powers again, intending to read the minds of whoever was around, so long as it could keep him safe for a second longer.

But looking around, Zhengting found himself alone with the man that he assumed was the leader from before. They were in a rather empty room, the bed he was on and a simple table with 2 chairs being the only furniture present in.

Reading the mind of the man before him, Zhengting found that he couldn’t get much useful information, this man was controlling his own thoughts too well.

Seeing the way Zhengting was obviously staring so intently at him, looking as though he was trying to stare deep into his core, Xukun knew exactly what the former was doing, an amused smirking forming on his lips. 

“Given how intently you are looking at me now, you should know that I have no intention of hurting you. Not unless you force me to,” Xukun said, eyes keeping a look out for Zhengting’s reaction as he made the effort to focus on his own words, not letting his mind wander too much. To Xukun’s knowledge, he only had the vague idea that Zhengting could read minds and speak in people’s minds, but he wasn’t going to make it any easier for Zhengting to dig around in his mind too much even if Zhengting may have very much figured him out completely already.

“This will be your room from now on. I know the place is a little empty now, so if you have anything you need, just let me know. I’ll have them ready for you. Of course, there’s some things that are off limits, you should know what they are,” Zhengting was still staring at him.

“The doors are locked from inside and out. You’re not getting out without me, but no one else will be entering either. Food will be sent through the window on the door. And finally,” Xukun stopped, a finger pointing up to one corner of the ceiling.

Zhengting took one glance at where Xukun was pointing at, eyes leaving the latter for the first time since they entered his room. There was a surveillance camera mounted at the corner, one that Zhengting reckoned could see everything that was happening in that small room of his. With this thought, Zhengting felt a clench in his chest.

Once Xukun had conveyed everything he wanted to, he took one last glance at Zhengting, noting how the other looked, all indignant and angry, as though trying to hide the way the same fists clenching at his sides were also trembling slightly.

Despite all this, Zhengting still sat upright, knees shoulder width apart, looking every bit like the obedient kid he was brought up to be. The red and black graduation robe, while marked by creases and wrinkles now, still sat proudly on his shoulders.

“Clothes,” Xukun noted to himself, to which Zhengting picked up from his thoughts. But instead of thinking complete thoughts like others would, Xukun’s succinct ones unsettled Zhengting. He couldn’t figure them out.

Leaving a simple “Rest well, you will need it” behind, Xukun left the room, a distinct latch of the digital lock sounding.

Left all alone, Zhengting couldn’t phantom just how much have changed in the past two hours. Just not long before, he was still the happy go lucky kid with nothing to worry about, all excited for his graduation. But now, even his safety was a concern.

After a short moment of pause on the bed, trying to process everything, Zhengting quickly got up, exploring the room in hopes of finding some way to escape.

Honestly, a quick glance should have been enough to tell him there was none. The room was rather small and sparse, there was frankly nowhere any possible loopholes could have been hidden. And given how over cautious Xukun had been, it was pretty obvious Zhengting was not getting out any time soon.

Despite this, Zhengting still tried, not wanting to give up just yet. He circled around the perimeter of the room, he tested the frosted glass windows behind his bed, he checked the bathrooms. Within ten minutes, Zhengting felt his heart drop yet again. 

There was no way out.

Falling ungraciously onto the bed, Zhengting curled in on himself, and that was how he remained for hours to come. He didn’t make to take off his bulky graduation robe, he didn’t get up to eat the food that was sent over, he didn’t bathe.

He didn’t move.

From his own office, Xukun kept the screen showing the recordings of Zhengting’s room up as he proceeded with his day, typing away on another computer of his. Every now and then, he would look up to see the exact same scene showing on the screen. Xukun would have suspected that there was something wrong with his surveillance camera, with how Zhengting was completely motionless, if it weren’t for the clock moving in the background.

This was surely not the way Xukun would have wanted Zhengting to act, but then again it was understandable. Hence, he decided to just let Zhengting be, he will be the one to suffer tomorrow anyway if he doesn’t rest now.


	2. Chapter 2

When Xukun pushed open the heavy, metal doors the next morning, he felt as though he was still back in his room, watching the surveillance footage again. Just how is this guy able to stay in such an uncomfortable get up all through the night.

Seeing how last night’s dinner was still left untouch at the entrance alongside this morning’s breakfast, Xukun felt a rush of frustration in him, taking a few quick steps towards the figure lying silently in bed. Reaching him, just as Xukun was about to reach out and pull Zhengting up, the former managed to stop him, taking a few moments to clear his mind.

Trying to tame the fire in him, burying his frustration, Xukun made sure to hide all his emotions away as much as possible as a form of defence against the mind reader. Once he deemed himself calm, Xukun said, voice gentle but firm, “You’re not getting out of here. But if you cooperate, we can at least work things out and let you meet your parents. Don’t you want that?”

Initially, Zhengting hadn’t been looking at Xukun, his eyes stare straight into nothing as his mind floated away. He wasn’t paying attention to his captor, or maybe he didn’t even notice him entering at all. But upon hearing the mention of his parents, Zhengting’s head snapped up to look at the other. 

Making use of his powers yet again, Zhengting desperately dug through Xukun’s mind in hopes of finding anything about them, were they safe. But as it turns out, Xukun was again not letting anything slip in front of him, his thoughts not even going anywhere near the topic of his parents, even when Xukun was the one who brought them up.

Even from Zhengting’s little experience reading people’s minds, he had noticed how people tend to think about the topic they were talking about. But clearly this was not the case with Xukun, and this would surely spell trouble for Zhengting in the future.

Seeing how Zhengting is again staring intently at him, Xukun couldn’t help but think how Zhengting only ever meet his eyes when he’s clearly trying to read his mind. This was a thought that Zhengting managed to pick up, but what he doesn’t is the way Xukun had seemed to find this funny. Disregarding Xukun’s thought, Zhengting continued to stare Xukun down, not making a single move to cooperate, his defences held high.

But as this exchange went on, Xukun’s amusement faded away. Zhengting had showed no sign of cooperating, seeming as though he was going to jump on whatever information Xukun let’s slip. Having enough, Xukun decided he was not going to hide his frustrations any longer, for all he knew, Zhengting may have picked up on it already anyway. 

Grabbing Zhengting by the chin yet again, Xukun said, voice low and threatening, a bite to his voice, “Don’t forget who’s hands you are in now. If you don’t want to make your life difficult, you know what to do.”

With this threat, Xukun had shortened the distance between the drastically. Up close, Zhengting can feel his captor’s breath fanning against his face as Xukun’s thoughts of frustration and annoyance of his played louder than ever in Zhengting’s head.

Getting Xukun’s message, however reluctant Zhengting may be, he knew cooperating might very well be his best option right now. So he raised a hand up, slapping Xukun’s hand away as he made to get up, intending to get some food in himself first before starting whatever Xukun was here for. But just as he managed to set one foot on the floor, pushing himself upright, he found himself collapsing right back into bed.

Apparently, the entire night of not eating and drinking, coupled with his continuous use of his powers had been too much for his body to handle. Especially when he never had to use his powers for such an extended period of time before.

Seeing this sight before him, of Zhengting looking absolutely weak and pale as he laid helplessly on bed, Xukun felt a pang in his chest. Why was he feeling this way, he wasn’t sure. But when Zhengting tilted his head up slowly to look at Xukun staring him down from the side of the bed, Xukun thought to himself, “You brought it upon yourself.”

He clearly hadn’t meant it. 

Turning swiftly at his feet, Xukun went ahead and fetched the food at the entrance. Seeing this happen, Zhengting used all the strength he had to push himself up on the bed, getting into a seating position instead. When he was finally seated upright, back resting against the pillow and the headboard, Zhengting looked up to see Xukun very carefully tugging at his fingers, making sure that the hands he had resting on his thighs cupped the warm bowl of porridge steadily before retracting his own pair away.

The whole time, Zhengting just stared, eyes slightly widened, heart racing as his captor who had just threatened him handle him with such cautiousness, making sure that he wouldn’t accidentally spill the porridge onto himself.

And when the warm porridge was securely set in his hands, Xukun pulled himself back, introducing distance between them again as he pulled a chair over and sat next to the bed. As always, Xukun looked confident as ever. He was just seating there, but just from the slight laid-backness in his posture, he seemed as though he had complete control of everything around him. Which he probably did.

Seeing how Xukun just sat there, looking as thought he had no intention of moving at all, Zhengting slowly lifted the bowl up, cupping the bowl in one hand as he spooned the smallest scoops of porridge into his mouth. Zhengting was eating extremely slowly, maybe part of it had to do with how he would keep looking up at Xukun from time to time in between his food just so he could make sure he was getting whatever thoughts Xukun did let up. But mostly it was because Zhengting was just too tired to function, energy almost completely drained.

When Zhengting was barely even done with one third of his food, footsteps suddenly sounded. Zhengting immediately looked up from his food to see Xukun walking over to him again. For a moment, Zhengting had thought Xukun was done waiting for him to eat and was just going to take his food away from him.

But while Xukun was indeed taking the bowl off Zhengting’s hands, the latter also managed to read a thought about his graduation gown?

“Take that off, isn’t it bothering you?” Xukun said, voice low and flat as ever.

Looking down at himself, Zhengting finally registered how warm and uncomfortable the graduation gown was making him, not to mention the fully buttoned dress shirt and tie he had underneath. With this, Zhengting had the sudden realisation that he was so focused on getting into the mind of the person before him that he wasn’t even paying attention to himself anymore, losing touch with his own body.

With how Zhengting couldn’t even get much out of Xukun, for some reason he felt as though he was worse than the latter even in this regard, when he clearly was the one at an advantage here.

Slowly lifting his arms, Zhengting started pulling the various parts of his graduation gown apart, before finally slipping the gown off his shoulders before pulling off his tie, throwing them all in a pile at the side of his bed.

He remembered how a day ago, he had been so excited to put that on, his mother helping him with it, making sure that it was neat and tidy, wanting her son to look the best he could on his graduation. Never would he have expected that when he took it off, it would have been such a different experience.

Looking back up at Xukun again, Zhengting distinctly saw him eyeing the pile of clothes by his side before his eyes quickly travelled back to Zhengting as he handed the bowl back.

Afterwards, the two spent the time entirely in silence as they watched each other intently. Zhengting kept his eyes on Xukun as much as he could while he ate while Xukun kept his eyes on Zhengting and only Zhengting.

On the surface, the two may look to be getting along somewhat peacefully, at least as peaceful as they can be while staring each other off. But if there was someone else like Zhengting would could read minds around, he would tell you that the brain activity between these two were beyond the charts, throwing mind games at each other like it was nothing.

Zhengting, who was by no minds trying to hide the fact that he was using his powers, kept reading Xukun’s minds. Meanwhile, Xukun knowing this kept baiting Zhengting with pieces of information in his head, thinking about stuff he knew the other would be interested in just to see the way Zhengting would react, in hopes of understanding Zhengting and his powers better.

By the time breakfast was over, Zhengting finally putting down his bowl of not yet empty porridge after an hour had passed by, Xukun swiftly took the bowl from him and set it aside.

“We shall begin then. Turn around, face the window,” Xukun said, pointing a chin towards the direction of the frosted glass windows behind the headboard of the bed. 

Hearing this, Zhengting was instantly on edge. His powers largely depended on his ability to see and by doing as told, he would not be able to use them. Zhengting hesitated, seating still in his spot but Xukun made no attempt to rush him or to let him off, just standing at the foot of his bed as he looked down upon him.

After a silent minute had passed, neither parties giving in, Zhengting slowly shifted, turning to face the frosted glass behind him that showed him nothing more than a shade of blue showing through. Not long after, Zhengting hears footsteps trailing away from him only to return alongside another set of footsteps.

“Say his name,” Xukun said, adding on when Zhengting doesn’t reply, “Don’t take your time, I’m timing you.”

Hearing this, Zhengting could feel his heart pounding as his fingers subconsciously found each other, fiddling around. He can’t, not when he can’t even see the person. 

But he can’t possibly reveal that information, can he? Who knows what his captor would do with that information.

“30 seconds,” Xukun warned. With this, the decision was made as Zhengting blurted it out during his state of panic. “I need to see him to read his mind!”

Following this sudden outburst, all Zhengting received in return though was a simple “turn”, but what he doesn’t know is the slight tug at the corners of Xukun’s lips as he restarted his timer.

Not wanting to waste a single second, Zhengting sprung into action the moment he could see the newcomer in the room, but what he soon realised is that this person was also using the same trick he had noticed Xukun using all this time, to just think about irrelevant things. And in this stranger’s case, he was singing a song in his head.

Seeing the straight face this person was wearing, and the up beat rap song playing in his head at the moment, Zhengting almost burst out laughing, if only he wasn’t in such a situation.

Even after an entire chorus had gone by, this stranger still had not signs of stopping and thinking of anything that could somehow reveal his name. Hence, Zhengting decided he needed to guide him into doing so. But for some reason, right before he started, his eyes drifted over to Xukun seated back on the chair watching them.

After a couple of attempts at coaxing the name out of the person before him, guiding him into thinking of his name by reminding him of instances of his mother calling him for meals, of his teachers calling him for attendance, and finally when Zhengting reminded him of when he was scolded as a last ditch attempt, a name finally came out.

Without thinking, Zhengting instantly repeated the name to Xukun, wanting to minimize the time taken as much as possible. 

But the moment the name came out, Zhengting’s brain processing what he had said and how the two other people in the room reacted, Zhengting knew the name was wrong.

Boogie, he answered that the guy’s name was Boogie.

While Zhengting was busy trying to process what had happened, Xukun had already sent ‘Boogie’ out. “Anything you would like to share about your powers?” he asked. “I would suggest you be honest, you may be able to read minds but that doesn’t mean I don’t have ways of getting you to talk.” 

Given the exchange from before, Zhengting was already well aware of his place, constantly reminded of how he had no control over anything here. It’s also not difficult to guess that the entire ‘Boogie’ thing had been a test, and that Xukun probably already had some clue of his abilities and their limits.

Even though being honest with Xukun may put Zhengting in a disadvantage, lowering his chances of getting out of here. But from what he’s getting now, Zhengting reckoned he was never getting out anyway. So he shared, starting with the most obvious information he had.

“I can read minds… They appear as voices in my head, but I need to see the person to do this, that’s why… Just now…”

Zhengting stopped, but when Xukun continued to stare at him in silence, obviously not satisfied with his answer, he continued. “I can speak in a person’s mind… They would hear what I said but no one else can…” 

Another pause, but this time round, Xukun spoke, “What’s the maximum number of people you can use your powers on at once?”

Hearing this question, Zhengting was visibly lost, he didn’t know the answer and had never even tried finding out, and Xukun saw this change in expression. “I… Don’t know… When I am in a crowd, I can hear a lot of voices but I usually only focus on one… And I only ever tried speaking to the people who know of my powers… I don’t know what is the maximum…”

Knowing that what Zhengting said was probably the truth, Xukun continued with his other questions, “You can read a person’s mind as long as you can see the person?”

“The voices get softer the further the person is. I don’t know how far I can go…”

“Then what about when speaking in their heads?”

“I don’t need… To see a person to speak to them… I just know that when they get too far, they can’t hear me… But I don’t know how far is too far…”

“Anything else you want to add?” Xukun asked.”

Without much hesitation, Zhengting easily answered no. But just as Xukun was right before the door, about to leave, Zhengting called him, “Wait… I… I can only… Read people’s thoughts… If they don’t think about something, then I wouldn’t know of it…” Zhengting’s voice kept getting softer and softer, until it was barely a whisper by the end. But given how the entire room, and even the entire floor only had them, the place a complete silence, Xukun still managed to pick up on every single word said. Hearing this confession, a small smile formed on his lips.

The truth is he already had a rough idea that this was the case, though he wasn’t sure if Zhengting had been intentionally hiding it or was it that the careless mind reader hadn’t even figured this out himself. But either way, the little test from before had already somewhat confirmed his suspicions. And if he were to leave now and ask Ziyi about how his experience from before, Xukun reckoned he would be able to come to this conclusion on his own. After all, he was the one who staged this whole ploy to test Zhengting in the first place.

He had instructed Ziyi to purposely think about anything except for his name and to not cooperate with Zhengting. And the whole ‘Boogie’ thing was also Xukun, “When you think you are about to give in, think of ‘Boogie’.”

Also, from how different the events from the previous day turned out as compared to Xukun’s expectations, he had already started suspecting that this mind reader wasn’t as scary as he thought. In his head, he had been preparing to have his entire life story being repeated by the mind reader before him when they met, and that the latter would perhaps threaten him with some deep dark secret of his.

But none of this had occurred, it didn’t seem like Zhengting had gotten anything important out of him as long as he was careful whenever Zhengting was around. The mind reader’s powers were not that threatening, and neither was the person.

Just from a couple of exchanges with him and Xukun could already tell Zhengting had been showered in love since young. Even when faced with such horrible circumstances, Zhengting never once tried to trick his way out of this. He could have lied and made up something that may help him escape, especially before Xukun even knew much about his powers, but he never once did.

Instead, all he did was try to put up a strong front but never once actually hurting others to get what he needed.

Realising this, Xukun found himself even feeling remotely bad for bringing such a carefree spirit into this treacherously complicated world of his.

Turning back to face Zhengting, Xukun noticed the way he was anxiously fiddling with the hem of his shirt still neatly tucked into the black dress pants he was wearing. For a moment there, Xukun almost wanted to just leave, to not have to do what he needed to do.

Or maybe he never needed to do it, but that wasn’t how it had seemed to him.

A hand reached back to pull out a bracelet from his back pocket. Walking over to Zhengting, Xukun pulled one of the former’s hands in his. While this was initially met with some resistance, with Zhengting promptly pulling his hand back and away from his captor, Zhengting did ultimately relent, with his eyes trained on Xukun’s every move.

Once the bracelet was secured on the thin wrist of his, Xukun finally spoke, giving some form of explanation for this, though what Zhengting heard wasn’t quite what he would have expected or accepted.

“As a form of motivation for you to cooperate and work hard, the amount of time you spend to complete each test will translate to how long you have to wear this for.” This sentence was followed immediately with a jolt that came running up Zhengting’s wrist from the innocent looking bracelet.

The jolt was short, lasting barely a second, but the effects of it were still strongly felt especially with how weak and tired Zhengting was at the moment. Was it necessarily painful, not exactly. But it surely was uncomfortable and Zhengting was sure his body had not liked it at all. And this had just been a second long, how badly would it feel if Zhengting had to go through this for however longer.

With that short jolt, Zhengting had already reacted strongly, hand flinging up in hopes of getting away from whatever the source of electrical current may be, eyes settling on Xukun as he glared at him with whatever strength he had left, defences built high up around himself as he tried to distance him from his captor before him.

Seeing this reaction, Xukun knew that he had achieved one of his objectives, that is to make Zhengting fearful of what may happen should he not cooperate. That being said, he also knew that what Zhengting was now afraid of more than just that. Knowing that he should not approach Zhengting now, he simply asked the latter to take off the bracelet on his own and return it back, to which Zhengting had promptly threw it at Xukun like he was throwing a dart at his target, hurling the heavy bracelet straight at him.

As Zhengting continued to glare at Xukun from his spot on the bed, Xukun headed to the doors, unlocking them only slightly before leaning forward as though reaching for something by the doors. Steadying himself and the giant bag of clothes in his hands, he walked back towards the foot of the bed and set the bag down.

“This is for you, I estimated the size but it should fit fine. I did realise you don’t have what you need to wash them. I have made arrangements, it should be here in a few days,” Xukun said, and for some reason he was not trying to purposely hide his thoughts at the moment, Zhengting realised. 

From what he could tell, Xukun was getting him a washing machine? 

Seeing Zhengting’s look of confusion, Xukun decided it was time for him to leave. Picking up the heap on the bed formed by Zhengting’s graduation gown, Xukun set off, “I’ll be back tomorrow. Take this chance to rest. And don’t go starving yourself again, it won’t do you any good”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope everyone is safe and doing well!


	3. Chapter 3

When Zhengting had gotten out of bed the next morning, he found himself feeling much better than he had previously. Maybe it had to do with the fact that he actually allowed himself to fall asleep, or maybe it was the food that he managed to make himself eat, or maybe it was the comfy sweatshirt and sweatpants he had changed into, ridding himself of the stuffy dress shirt and pants.

Unlike how he had started the previous day, Zhengting woke up to an empty room. Cherishing this alone time, Zhengting got up and started digging through the bag of clothes Xukun had brought for him yesterday which Zhengting had now set aside at a corner of the room. The room was still empty as ever, and it was definitely no home to Zhengting. Despite this, it was going to be Zhengting’s only source of solace for the time being. So after Xukun had left the day before, Zhengting had started tidying the place a little, and that was when he decided this corner of the room was going to be his ‘closet’. It may just be a small bag of clothes that would barely last him through the next couple of days, but Zhengting decided that he needed this however small bout of control.

Pulling out a simple matching set of black sweats, Zhengting was right in front of the bathroom when the familiar beeps from the number lock sounded. Within seconds, the door was pushed open and in came Xukun.

With this, Zhengting halted in his steps, feet stopping right in his place, not knowing whether to go on or to back away. And the reason behind this was due to the nature of the ‘door’ to the bathroom, or should he say the lack there of.

Given Zhengting’s position as somewhat of a ‘prisoner’ here, Xukun must have been wary of him possibly hiding to avoid his captor. As such, he had gotten rid of the door to the bathroom, leaving only a set of curtains in its place.

When Zhengting had registered this during his toilet trip the day before, he had been alone in the room. Yes, the surveillance camera was up but with the curtains draw, nothing could be seen. As such, Zhengting could still use it with ease. Besides, his room was heavily locked down anyway.

However, now that Xukun had just entered, Zhengting was now in doubt. This person was his captor, someone who had taken him against his will and had no reservations about hurting him. To put himself in a vulnerable position by taking a bath with Xukun around wasn’t quite something Zhengting was prepared for.

Noticing the way Zhengting had a fresh set of clothes in his hands, standing right before the bathroom, Xukun had a rough idea what Zhengting had in his mind. As a means of expressing his lack of intentions about taking advantage of Zhengting in such a position, Xukun headed to the opposite side of the room where the table was. He pulled out a chair uncaringly and settled down, fishing out his phone and started mindlessly scrolling.

Seeing the way Xukun was acting, Zhengting did feel less fearful, especially when there were no malicious thoughts running through Xukun’s mind at the moment. Despite this, he still wasn’t about to take the risk and put himself in a vulnerable position again in front of his captor.

So he tossed the sweats on his bed and entered the bathroom, only taking the chance to wash his face and brush his teeth. The bath he originally intended to take can wait.

For the days to come, Zhengting found himself settling into somewhat of a routine every day. Granted, training of his powers with Xukun took up most of his time, leaving only the remaining bit for him to spend alone in within the four walls of his empty room.

After breakfast every day, Xukun never failed to show up, bringing Zhengting along in the extensive ways he had come up with for Zhengting to train.

Initially, Zhengting had mostly been training with ‘Boogie’. Starting from Zhengting’s room, ‘Boogie’ would start walking away from the room while Zhengting would be made to wear blindfolds and noise cancelling ear phones, counting both out loud and in the ‘Boogie’s’ head. The whole time, ‘Boogie’ would also be on a call with Xukun, where he would repeat the numbers Zhengting had told him to Xukun through the phone. Through this, Xukun can verify how well the telepathic communication had went.

This would go on until ‘Boogie’ was too far out of range, and can no longer hear Zhengting. They would repeat this exercise every day, with a set goal in mind each time for Zhengting to achieve. 

At times, Xukun had also gotten Zhengting to basically act as his broadcast system, making him say convey specific messages to everyone in the building, or specific people Xukun had strategically placed at various locations. With this, Xukun managed to train Zhengting in terms of the maximum number of people he can speak to at once, and how accurate he can be when he only needed to communicate with specific people.

Of course, there had been numerous occasions where Xukun had gotten Zhengting to help him gather everyone somewhere, or to call certain people over to meet him, not for the purpose of training, but purely for convenience. 

Zhengting remembered those few days where Xukun had made him gather everyone at the field downstairs very clearly. When he first started, Zhengting never managed to get everyone, leaving nearly half of the cohort out. So naturally, when Xukun unlocked the frosted windows in his room, allowing him full view of the people he had gathered, asking him to read the minds of very specific people Xukun pointed out from the crowd, all Zhengting heard were very confused voices wondering if they had gone crazy because so many others didn’t hear anything.

Thankfully, with each try, Zhengting managed to gather more and more people until he finally reached everyone.

That being said, the people soon managed to figure out what was happening after a few of such occurrences. And the way their thoughts changed was interesting to say the least. Some were very obvious irritated at being used as guinea pigs for this random mind reader their boss found, expressing their discontent and discomfort of potentially having their minds read very clearly.

This had resulted in Zhengting having to repeat to Xukun the ways these people were cursing him out in their heads, resulting in very awkward silences.

While this was not the most pleasant of experiences, Zhengting soon got used to it, and when he managed to come across someone not mad at him, he always found himself eager to find out more of that person.

Sometimes, there were people who were just daydreaming, wondering about dinner, thinking about their upcoming date and all sorts of random nothings. And there was that one time that Zhengting would never forget.

It was a young boy in his late teens that Xukun had just pointed out to him, asking him to read his mind. And he had been so excited to get his mind read Zhengting had been so endeared hearing that. In his head, he was basically viewing Zhengting as some sort of hero with super powers. Without realising it, Zhengting had a slight smile on the whole day.

With trainings came tests. Each week, Xukun would set goals for Zhengting to meet, and how much Zhengting had to improve. The goals would include the maximum distance Zhengting can reach with his powers, and how long he would take to get certain information out of someone. Whenever Zhengting would fail to hit the goals set, he would be made to endure the jolts of electricity from the bracelet like before. 

While Zhengting had thought of his own progress to be astounding, considering how he never really used his powers previously, there had still been many times where he still fell short of expectations.

He hated the bracelet to the core, the spark in his eyes going off every time he was told he hadn’t met the goals. It was not that Zhengting had not been cooperative, had not been working hard, because he had. He had stopped resisting a long time ago, tried his best every time. So why did he still have to go through this?

“None of you are like me, you don’t know what it’s like. How can you be the one to decide if I was performing well or not,” this thought had surfaced in Zhengting’s head numerous times, but he never once voiced it out.

Despite not having complained a single time, Zhengting’s grievances did not go unheard.

The whole time Zhengting had been training, Xukun had always been there, strategically positioning himself slightly behind the mind reader, out of his sight. And while Xukun did not have mind reading powers like Zhengting, he did not need them to know what Zhengting was thinking.

Maybe it was because of the loving environment he had grown up in, but Zhengting had always been an open book, expressing every emotion and every thought freely for everyone to see. So it should come as no surprise for Xukun to know that Zhengting had been trying his best every time, how he was doing as Xukun said, no longer trying to resist, how he absolutely hated the way Xukun would punish him.

So over time, without either of them really consciously noticing it, the goals became less rigorous and Zhengting was hitting more and more of them each week. In his head, Xukun wrote it off as nothing, attributing his actions to all sorts of reasons such as “Zhengting already tried his best”, “Zhengting’s too tired”, “he can’t afford to hurt his secret weapon”, justifying them but never once realising that he was in fact becoming more lenient.

And before long, Zhengting would have been leading this new life of his for two months now.

Much has changed during this mere two months, but it seems neither parties quite it.

The most obvious change came in the form of Zhengting’s room. Just like he promised, Xukun started to get Zhengting whatever he needed, so long as he requested for them. It started out with everyday necessities like kettles and clothesline, to which Xukun decided to get Zhengting a brand new wardrobe filled with clothes alongside.

Then, on days when training had proceeded very successfully, and Xukun clearly looked to be in a good mood, Zhengting would try his luck and ask for something a little more, like books and specific dishes he hoped to get for the next meal.

And eventually, when Zhengting had his requests accepted more times than rejected, he blurted out something that had been in his mind for a while now without thinking.

“If I said that I wanted flowers, will you get them for me?” he said.

The moment he had finished the sentence, Zhengting realised what he had just said, eyes slightly wide in shock as he processed them. He hadn’t ever meant to say them out loud, knowing exactly how impossible that would be given his place. But it seems he had clearly been getting too comfortable with his surroundings, he was letting his guard down.

As Zhengting smacked his hands over his mouth as though by doing so he could somehow pull the words he had said back and swallow them down, Xukun turned to look at him, and merely said a simple “What?”

Assuming that this was Xukun giving him a chance to take back his words, Zhengting quickly brushed him off, changing the topic as he started going on at lengths of the training they had that day. Zhengting knew for a fact that Xukun had heard what he had said, but he wasn’t about to give Xukun a chance to react negatively to it.

Despite this, Zhengting did in fact wake up to a small bouquet of white freesias set on a chair that had been dragged next to his bed.

Zhengting couldn’t quite explain it, maybe he had no reason to feel joy when he was brought here against his will in the first place, but that didn’t seem to hinder how he just couldn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day. After having washed up, he even plucked one flower right out of the bouquet, and placed it behind his ear. When Xukun entered a while later, the first thing he saw was the way Zhengting was seated cross-legged on the bed, beaming playfully at him with a small white flower behind his ear. Xukun couldn’t read minds, but that moment, Zhengting looked as though he was saying, “Look at me!”

And that was how his room started to be decorated with more and more flowers as time went by. There would be fresh bouquets of flowers displayed in clear plastic jars at the foot of the huge frosted window, there would be multiple bunches of flowers being hung upside down along the otherwise empty walls set out to air dry, there would be small portions of the ceiling covered completely with the various bunches that had already been air dried. 

While there still seemed to be a long way to go, it was as though Zhengting was planning to eventually cover his entire ceiling with flowers. Though there was a part of him that wasn’t quite sure it if would ever happen, or even how long it would take to happen, Xukun decided that he would continue to play his part in this, fetching a fresh bouquet of white freesias for Zhengting after each test every week.

With the amount of time they spend together training, they have had numerous chances to interact, getting to know the other person that was thrust into their life without any warning. 

During this time, Xukun often found himself seated at his work desk in his room, hands stopping on his keyboard as his mind floated away whenever he would glance over to the screen that was showing the footage from Zhengting’s room.

At times like this, he realised, he would start recalling specific moments from that day, moments like when Zhengting would smile at him, lips pursing themselves as he tried to hide his smile even though the spark in his eyes gave it all away. He would also remember the times where Zhengting would so delicately handle all the flowers he had given him, how he would transfer them into the jars Xukun got him before making sure to line them all up in a straight line, how he would carefully air dry them, how he would climb up the table just to secure the flowers on his ceiling.

Xukun remembered there was this one day after they had been done with training, he hadn’t leave right after, choosing instead to seat himself at one corner as he told Zhengting to go on with whatever he was doing. As though not needing to be told, Zhengting immediately started working on his flowers. Another bunch was done drying, so he took them down and started mindlessly climbing onto the table right next to Xukun.

Seeing this almost made Xukun’s heart stop because how was it that Zhengting was treating the bunch of flowers with more care than he was treating himself. The way he hadn’t even bothered clearing the table of its contents before climbing up made Xukun worry that he would step on something and fall. Without noticing, Xukun kept his eyes on the mind reader the whole time, arms occasionally lifting themselves as though preparing to catch Zhengting at any moment if he were to fall.

Remembering all this, Xukun could feel his heart speeding up. However, as though it was purely on reflex, Xukun remembered the moments where Zhengting would look visibly upset after Xukun had made him read a person’s mind, light in his eyes dulling as the smile that was so ever present faded away. He would remember the fearful expression Zhengting had whenever he was told he hadn’t met expectations, colour disappearing from his face as he put the shock bracelets on. He would remember the first time he had shocked Zhengting, the way he had glared at himself, as though he had absolutely hated and despised him.

Just like this, all that joy and fluttering hearts Xukun had felt faded away. Of course, it was not that Xukun was unaware of all the wrongs he did. He’s aware of them and he acknowledges them. Thinking back on how he had treated Zhengting, there was no doubt that the bad outweighed the good. He was the bad guy in Zhengting’s eyes and he knows it. 

Realising this, Xukun knew he was going to start treating Zhengting better. That being said, he just can’t let him go. 

“You can hate me all you want but I am the bad guy in your life, there’s no changing that.”

While Xukun couldn’t let go of the unhappy moments between them, things were completely different on Zhengting’s end. Burying himself in his blankets, Zhengting could feel his heart pounding and his cheeks flushing as he recalled the events from just that morning.

Now that he basically had a standard routine every day, Zhengting roughly knew when Xukun would appear. And that morning, he had woken up half an hour earlier than usual for some reason. 

In the past, before he had been brought here, he always had the habit of bathing in the morning, wanting to start the day fresh. However, after the first morning here, he hadn’t been able to do so since, not wanting to face the awkwardness of bathing with Xukun just outside.

But this time round, he may just have enough time to do so. Jumping out of bed excitedly, Zhengting quickly fished out his clothes and skipped his way into the bathroom. 

Ridding himself of his clothes, Zhengting enjoyed the way the warm water seemed to wash away all his fatigue, finding an unexplainable sense of comfort and peace from the steady stream of water washing over him.

Maybe Zhengting had been too comfortable he had lost track of time, or maybe Xukun had decided to show up earlier today, but soon, the ever so familiar beeps from the lock sounded followed by a steady set of foot steps. Immediately, Zhengting stunned, hands stopping in the midst of soaping his hair. 

The next couple of seconds seemed to drag on forever as Zhengting had no idea what to do and what he was expecting. Was he expecting Xukun to come and check on him just to make sure he was still around, or was he suppose to finish washing up as quickly as he could to escape this situation.

But it seems the decision was made for him when nothing seemed to happen after all this while. Xukun did not enter, but it didn’t ask Zhengting to hurry up either. 

Hearing the distinct pull of the chair, Zhengting finally continued his actions and bathed. He did end up bathing much faster afterwards, but instead of it being out of fear, Zhengting noticed it was out of embarrassment instead, his whole body flushing red.

But since when did the fear turn into such shyness?

At some point in time, Zhengting had also managed to find out the name of his captor, finally. It had happened after he finally got ‘Boogie’s’ real name, which happened to be Ziyi, a whole lot more normal than ‘Boogie’ if you would ask Zhengting.

Apparently, the whole ‘Boogie’ thing had been bothering Zhengting the whole time. Hence, even when Xukun hadn’t task him to find out ‘Boogie’s’ name anymore, Zhengting decided he wanted to do so and kept his eyes on Ziyi the whole time he was present. And since Ziyi hadn’t been told to deliberately keep it from Zhengting this time round, the mind reader barely spent any time at all figuring it out, proudly shouting “Ziyi!” into the otherwise silent room.

As Xukun had been positioned behind Zhengting at that moment, preventing Zhengting from being able to see his reactions much less read his mind, Xukun couldn’t help smiling at this endearing scene. Oh what a silly little kid Zhengting was, getting all excited over something so small.

However, after Ziyi had left, Xukun could tell that Zhengting clearly had something he wanted to say. He kept looking towards Xukun, lips parting as though to say something only to purse them as he looked away, swallowing his words back down his throat. 

After noticing Zhengting doing so for the fifth time, Xukun decided he had to be the one to ask, otherwise this silly mind reader was never going to be able to do so.

“You have been acting weird ever since Ziyi left, is there something you want to say?”

Hearing this, Zhengting looked as though he was a kid caught eating the sweets his mom clearly told him not to, looking every bit like the guilty kid caught red handed. After giving himself what looked to be the last bit of prep talk he needed, Zhengting finally said, “I still don’t know your name…”

At that point, Zhengting had been seated at the foot of his bed while Xukun had again been at the table to one corner of his room. This arrangement hadn’t felt weird at first, it was they way they always seemed to be but at that moment, Xukun felt as though he needed to get closer.

Getting on his feet, Xukun approached Zhengting, the latter busy playing with the hem of his shirt after saying what he did. Once he was right in front of Zhengting, Xukun took Zhengting’s fidgeting hands in his as he kneeled down right before him, bringing himself into Zhengting’s line of sight.

“Sorry I never introduced myself before this. My name is Xukun, Cai Xukun.”

Zhengting couldn’t quite explain it, but at the moment, it felt as though everything around them came into a standstill. Looking straight into Xukun’s eyes, all Zhengting can hear was the sound of his own pounding heart, not the voices in his head that one would have expected. 

When Zhengting finally managed to gather himself, he asked, “Can you tell me more about yourself?”

With a slight smile, Xukun began sharing, without a single moment of hesitation.

“Have you ever been to the South? I was from there, where all the poorest of the poor lived. Life was tough, you never knew when the next meal would be, what more for an orphan like me. I didn’t know if I was even going to be able to make it past the age of ten. But I got lucky, well… As lucky as I could be. When I was seven, this guy came and got me out of the South, enrolled me in school and got me settled in an orphan care in the West.

At that time, I didn’t understand why this happened, how did I get so lucky. But it was only after I turned eighteen that I found out it was because my mother had passed away from an accident at work. And that was how I even managed to get anyway in life. All thanks to the sacrifice of a mother who I didn’t even know existed because she hadn’t been a part of my life ever since I could remember.

As for who we are, and what this place is… There’s so many orphans in the South, because their parents have all left in hopes of getting more money for the family. But the people in the South are mostly illiterate, there’s no schools in the South. So even if they leave, they still can’t earn much. I took in those orphans and built this place.

You used to live near the North so you may have heard. The North is filthy rich, they can easily feed everyone in the South but they wouldn’t. So we take what we need from them, money, food, supplies. But we have been getting too much attention lately, they are going hard on us. So that’s where you come in.”

The whole time Xukun was sharing, Zhengting hadn’t tried reading his mind. This may be a stupid decision but Zhengting decided he wanted to at least give Xukun that respect, he was finally sharing something with him. And for some reason, Zhengting had faith that Xukun wasn’t lying. Maybe it was the way he looked, but Zhengting felt as though he had never seen Xukun anymore honest with him.

What he didn’t know though was that Xukun had in fact let all his guards down, thoughts running freely in his head unlike how he usually was. If Zhengting had just tried, he would have been able to find out anything he wanted. But he hadn’t.

While Zhengting was still the cheerful kid he was for the most part, he did still have his ups and downs. But what Xukun realised was that Zhengting seemed to hide the side of him that was upset, choosing only to show the cheery side of him to Xukun, even when the latter was the one who put him in this situation in the first place. 

Zhengting would always give it his all during his trainings, cooperating to the best of his abilities. But once Xukun had left, there were days where he would spend the whole day sulking, wasted away on his bed much like the way he had been initially.

On days like this, Zhengting wouldn’t read his books, decorate his room, he wouldn’t even touch any of his flowers. Because to him, they were the only things he could do to past time when he’s alone in here, they were things he enjoyed doing and had brought him joy and some semblance of control. He didn’t want to taint them with memories of his bad days.

So the only thing he could do was to sleep. But it’s precisely on such days his mind would allow him to do anything but sleep.

Over time, it was no surprise that Xukun would notice, he had full view of Zhengting’s room after all. But what was a surprise though, was the fact that he actually cared enough to do something about it.

Seeing the way Zhengting would just sulk his day away, Xukun started to spend more time with Zhengting, occasionally coming back up to Zhengting’s room after he had left previously just to accompany him.

He would also try getting things for the mind reader to do, not wanting him to wallow in despair like this. He would pick up some card and board games along the way, just so he can play them with Zhengting.

And it seems this had slowly gotten to Zhengting, making him so used to Xukun’s presence whenever he was feeling down, maybe even it to the point where he was start expecting Xukun to turn up. And when Xukun didn’t, Zhengting took it upon himself to call for him.

Most of the time, Xukun would be in the vicinity, and with how competent Zhengting was getting with his powers, it was absolutely no trouble for him to start speaking to Xukun telepathically. 

He would start calling for Xukun to come up, he would tell Xukun whatever he wanted him to get for him along the way, he would just start sharing whatever random topics he had in his head with Xukun. All of which happened one-sidedly, Zhengting couldn’t get a reply from Xukun. Not unless he could see him.

Despite this though, Xukun would always make the effort to listen to Zhengting and what he had to say. Even as Zhengting spends the next hour rambling off about something so random, Xukun would try his best to listen. If he couldn’t stop working entirely, he would at least listen as he worked, as though Zhengting was in fact talking right next to him. If Xukun was conversing with someone else when Zhengting suddenly decided he wanted to chat, Xukun would try to finish up what he needed to discuss as soon as possible, giving Zhengting all the time he needed.

While Zhengting may not be aware, he was accompanying Xukun just like how Xukun was accompanying him. And even if their relationship was still as ambiguous as ever, Xukun was slowly becoming his only friend here.

“Are you busy at the moment? I’m kinda… bored… Think you can drop by for a while?”

“Hey! Are you busy? Can you get me some snacks on your way? I’m hungry.”

“Hello~ Think you might be busy now so I’ll make it quick, do you agree that hotpot is the best food in the world? Hints hints!”

“Kun, I challenge you to a game of poker!”

During their little game of poker, with Ziyi being called over just to be their dealer, Zhengting kept winning.

Initially, Xukun had wanted to play a game without bets as he thought Zhengting didn’t have anything to bet with. But Zhengting had insisted on betting, going on to put his meals and flowers at risk. And Xukun now knew why.

Throughout the entire game, Xukun couldn’t ignore the way Zhengting kept staring at him, a smug smile on his face as he upped his bet again and again.

It was obvious that Zhengting was cheating, using his powers to read Xukun’s mind just so he can win more meals and flowers from Xukun. Shaking his head knowingly, Xukun couldn’t help the loving smile that slipped onto his lips. “This silly kid,” he thought to himself.

After Zhengting had won his tenth consecutive round, with Xukun owing him so many favours, Xukun asked, “Is it that fun?”

“Of course it’s fun winning over you,” Zhengting replied. Glancing up at Xukun, Zhengting happened to hear the words “through cheating?” echoing through Xukun’s head.

In an instant, the huge smile Zhengting had been wearing previously fell. Reaching over, Zhengting gathered all the cards as he made to pack up before pushing both Xukun and Ziyi out of his room.

Having a rough idea of what had happened, Xukun told Ziyi to go ahead before pulling at Zhengting’s arms, stopping him in his actions. Of course, Zhengting had no intention of letting Xukun stop him just like this, arms flailing all over, attempting to slip out of Xukun’s grip. 

With how wildly Zhengting was struggling, Xukun soon had no choice but the pull Zhengting against himself, the latter’s back to his chest as he held Zhengting’s arms strongly against his front.

Seeing how his struggles were futile, Zhengting revealed, voice so soft, “You already have control over my whole life, can’t you just let me win this time? Is it wrong to try and win?”

Pulling Zhengting even closer against himself, Xukun whispered, “You have something that makes you special, there’s nothing wrong using it.”

“I just want to know if you are really happy being special,” he continued, but only after he had turned Zhengting over to face him, making sure Zhengting was looking right at him as he said it, voice soft and genuine.

Zhengting took a few seconds to comprehend what he had just heard, but once he registered the words and what they meant, tears started welling in his eyes. And before long, they started falling down his cheeks like pearls falling from the threads of broken pearls necklaces. 

Zhengting wasn’t quite sure, but he seemed to have heard a very soft “I’m sorry.” Unfortunately, he wasn’t quite in the state of mind to truly register it.

This was the first time he had cried since he had arrived here.

Meanwhile, Xukun’s mind was quite a mess the moment he saw the tears welling in Zhengting’s eyes, he swore he could feel his heart clenching painfully in on itself. Not quite knowing how to act in such a situation, Xukun stood there, not moving. But as his grip around Zhengting loosen, the latter slipped right out of his arms as he fell to the ground, wrapping his arms around his knees.

There was a part of Xukun that strongly wanted to close the distance between them again, but did he have the right to do so when he was the one who was responsible for Zhengting feeling like this.

As more and more tears fell, painting streaks on Zhengting’s flushed cheeks, hiccups sounding one after another as Zhengting found it difficult to breath, Xukun could no longer remain still. Falling harshly onto his knees, a resounding thud as he kneeled down, Xukun pulled Zhengting into his embrace. His arms wrapped themselves tightly around Zhengting’s shaking frame, seeming as though he wanted to shield him from the world if he could.

Burying Zhengting’s head against his chest, Xukun’s hands started running themselves along Zhengting’s back, occasionally coming up to comb through his hair.

The whole time, all Xukun can seem to think of in his head were the words “I’m sorry.”

The following day, despite how much Zhengting had tried to cheer himself up, he still couldn’t help feeling slightly down. When Xukun came in as usual, Zhengting pushed himself to get out of bed for his training only to be stopped by Xukun.

Getting Zhengting to seat back down in bed, pulling the blankets to cover Zhengting’s lap, Xukun sat himself down on the bed too, in front of Zhengting, leaving a gap between them.

Then, he finally revealed what he had been hiding behind his back the whole time, a Monopoly set.

“There’s nothing to hide in a game of Monopoly.”

And from then on, board games became a norm between the two of them. They would play all sorts of games and Xukun can visibly tell Zhengting felt much better afterwards. That was until Zhengting acquired children in a round of The Game of Life.

Adding one blue peg to his current pair of blue and pink, forming a happy family of three, Zhengting blurted out, “I have been doing everything you have asked me to, when can I see my parents again?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this chapter took much longer! but it's also longer so i hope it makes up for the lateness. have to say, the outline i wrote for this chapter was quite messy, especially since the events here aren't quite chronological, so it might be a little disjointed here and there but i hope it still flows fine! i tried my best!
> 
> thank you for reading and might i just shamelessly ask for you to drop a comment or kudos if you enjoyed this! i really appreciate you doing so!


	4. Chapter 4

Ever since then, the thought about letting Zhengting meet his parents had been bugging Xukun. While to others, this may just seem like a fleeting statement he had made, and that he had no obligation to keep it seeing how he was clearly he one in power here, but it was a promise he had made, and he intended on keeping it. So he called for a meeting with a few of his closest men the very next day, hoping to finally fulfill his promise.

They had gathered in Xukun’s room, seated around a makeshift meeting table that usually served as his dining table. Once everyone had gathered, Xukun wasted no time, telling them of his intention of letting Zhengting meet his parents, wanting to discuss any ideas they may have.

“I want to let him meet his parents, but we need to make sure that there won’t be any chances for him to run or for his parents to try and play any tricks. Anyone has any ideas?” he said.

But instead of the ideas he asked for, what Xukun got in return was doubts and questions.

“Are you sure about this?” 

“It’s too risky.”

“Why are we even doing this? Isn’t it better to just keep him here?”

The room descended into a buzz as many started voicing out their concerns regarding such a proposal, voices all melding into one another making it difficult to tell what each of them were saying individually. But Xukun didn’t need to hear them all to understand the general consensus.

Rising a clenched fist, Xukun easily returned the place to the silence it once had. And when he had everyone’s attention back on him, he said, “Zhengting is not a prisoner. I understand the way we brought him here may give you that impression but I see him as one of us. He’s here to help us and I am not going to repay that help with broken promises. He’s one us now and have I ever gone back on my words with any of you?”

Realising that Xukun was determined of seeing this through, everyone soon quieten down, but that is not to say that they did not have any concerns regarding this idea. 

“Even if we wanted to, it would still be too much of a risk to transport Zhengting out or to let his parents in. We took them by surprise the last time but we can’t be sure that they won’t try anything this time round.”

“I know. Why don’t we just arrange a video call? We know that Zhengting won’t be able to use his powers, this way we can be sure he’s not having any secret conversations with his parents,” someone suggested, looking absolutely proud that he came up with this idea. “We can even cut connection at any time if they try anything funny.”

Hearing this, Xukun’s jaw clenched as a mix of anger and guilt surfaced within him. Just how did things end up this way?

It took a couple of days for them to finally come to a consensus but at least they managed to do so, and Xukun finally had some form of good news for Zhengting. If only he knew how bad Xukun felt every time he entered Zhengting’s room only to see him staring at the frosted glass windows as though he could actually see the sky that lies beyond it.

Xukun walked over and sat himself down right next to Zhengting, but not before unlocking the frosted windows, exposing the beautiful afternoon sun to the mind reader bounded to this room.

The first time Xukun had done so, Zhengting had stared at him suspiciously, unable to believe that his captor would show him such kindness without expecting anything in return. But with the number of times this has happened now, Zhengting could finally accept this small token without suspicion, something that Xukun greatly appreciated.

He just couldn’t see how something as minute as opening the windows could be regarded as kindness. So every time Zhengting had reacted with much gratitude, that gratefulness only served to cut at his heart further.

“I have good news for you,” Xukun said. At the mention of this, Zhengting immediately turned to face him, eyes wide and lips pursed as though he had no intention of hiding his anticipation.

Endeared, Xukun let out a slight smile. “Don’t get your hopes up, you might be disappointed.”

But that didn’t seem to dampen Zhengting’s mood at all as he continued to stare expectantly at Xukun, eyes sparkling. “How do you know that I’ll be disappointed? My expectations are super super super low now. So just tell me already,” Zhengting quibbed, tone inflecting up as he went, excitement so high it was the exact opposite of what he was suggesting.

“I can arrange for you to meet your parents,” Xukun finally revealed. But before Zhengting could get too excited, all emotions reflecting on his face, he quickly added, “But you have to help out in a mission first. That way I’ll have a reason to let you see them.” The remaining “So the rest have no reason to object” was left unsaid by Xukun and unnoticed by Zhengting who now rarely used his powers on the former.

Xukun had expected Zhengting’s mood to dampen after revealing this, he had imagined Zhengting sulking about how this was different from what Xukun had promised him initially, that all he had needed to do was cooperate. There was no mention of missions.

But in reality, Zhengting had reacted rather differently. Instead of sulking, his smile only grew bigger, reaching his eyes, a rare sight since he had arrived here. Yes he had a mission to get through, and who knows how difficult that might be? But the fact remains that he now had an opportunity, one he didn’t have for the entire time he was here. And with the terms laid out clearly now, Zhengting knew he only had one last hurdle to get through, and he wasn’t about to let this chance go to waste.

“No problem! I’ll perform so well you will have no reason not to let me see them!” Zhengting proclaimed, raising a clenched fist as a show of his determination as though it wasn’t already obvious enough.

Without thinking, Xukun raised a hand and landed a few pats on Zhengting’s head.

“I know you will,” he thought.

A few days later, it was time for Zhengting’s first mission. It was a simple task of retrieving some information, something that should not be any trouble for Zhengting at all. Given that it was the first time Zhengting would be assisting them, Xukun made sure that it would be manageable, and that it would put Zhengting in no danger by any means.

Besides, it wasn’t his idea to put Zhengting on a mission in the first place, but he needed to prove Zhengting’s worth to the remaining people that still didn’t trust or like the mind reader within their midst.

So after a simple lunch, Zhengting was escorted into a slightly dim room by Xukun. It was a fairly small room, resembling one of those interrogation rooms he often saw on television. There was a table situated right in the middle, with two chairs, only that they were both on the same side, facing a huge window.

Through the window, he could see the adjacent room. It was brightly lit and much larger, resembling one of those typical meeting rooms. There was a long, rectangular table with two rows of chair neatly arranged by its sides.

“It’s like I told you previously. The guy you have to retrieve information from, I’ll bring him in. You have to get us the passcode without him realising. Let me know when you got it,” Xukun informed Zhengting.

The person Xukun mentioned was their informant. However, when Xukun had sent some men down to check on the warehouse they were to raid, they realised that the informant had left some crucial information out. He hadn’t told them about the passcode to the door that would grant them access to where the medical supplies were, possibly because that was the area he was in charge of and he didn’t want to get into trouble.

Xukun could have easily threatened him for the passcode, given how the informant was still unaware of their knowledge of the missing passcode, thus agreeing to meet them Xukun alone like this. But if he had done so, there was a chance that the informant would just expose their entire plan and alert the higher ups. Xukun didn’t want to give up on the medical supplies, but he wasn’t going to risk the rest of the plan just for it. 

Besides, they had a secret weapon, they had Zhengting. 

So, Xukun arranged for this meeting under the guise that he had left out some stuff he needed to find out the last time. Of course Xukun wasn’t that careless to let the informant know of the location of their base, but he also couldn’t convince the rest of his men to let Zhengting out yet, hence the only alternative left was that they had to be the one to bring the informant in instead.

If they were the ones to bring him in, they didn’t need to reveal the location they were heading to. And as long as they transported him in a vehicle whereby his view of the outside was obstructed, he would have no idea where he was heading. He was not Zhengting, he wouldn’t be able to play any tricks without anyone else noticing.

But then came the difficult part of convincing the informant to agree to this set up without raising suspicion. It had took Xukun a whole lot of lies and convincing before he finally bought the story of how Xukun was just too busy and couldn’t leave his base anytime soon. But just to be safe, they couldn’t just reveal the location of their base, hence they offered to bring him in instead. Xukun guaranteed that no harm would come his way, and that he was free to bring a weapon with him if he so pleased.

Long story short, arranging this opportunity for Zhengting hadn’t been easy but Xukun got it done anyway. So now, with Zhengting settled down at the table, and two of Xukun’s most trusted men, Ziyi and Yanchen, watching after him, Xukun left to get his plan rolling.

Fifteen minutes later, Zhengting watched as Xukun ushered a middle-aged man in. Zhengting could see the way he was slightly tense, not completely at ease as he scanned his surroundings. Only when he took the sight of the otherwise empty room in did he relax. Little did he know that Zhengting was just next door, hidden behind an one way mirror.

Xukun had walked towards the table first, seating himself with his back towards Zhengting. With this, the informant very naturally took the seat opposite of Xukun, allowing Zhengting a full view of the former’s face, something Zhengting didn’t need to use his powers but Xukun thought was good to have.

Once everything was set, with Zhengting informing Xukun with his powers that he could begin, Xukun started discussing the various intel they had shared previously. So as to not raise suspicion, Xukun would ask for more specific details they hadn’t shared before. With this detailed picture painted in the informant’s head, Zhengting felt as though he could almost see the entire layout of the warehouse they were about to raid.

So when Xukun brought up the topic of passcodes, asking in a very nonchalant manner, seeming as though he had no suspicion at all and that it was a possibility he only just glossed over because he had assumed there weren’t any, Zhengting could immediately hear the beeping sounds that accompanied the unlocking of the digital lock.

A set of numbers surfaced in his head, “79832583” along with the mental image of someone pressing this exact numbers into the lock.

With this Zhengting quickly wrote down the set of numbers right as he heard them, amazing the other two people in the room that had been tasked to watch after him.

As he finished writing the last number, Zhengting quickly informed Xukun about his success only for Xukun to think in his head, “Tell me the first four numbers.” This thought was obviously meant for Zhengting, and thus he carefully repeated the number 7983 to Xukun. 

When Xukun was done with the informant, still continuing in his act, he told the informant, “If you ever need to contact me, you can find me with this number.” Scribbling a line of numbers quickly, he then slid it over.

“Thank you, thank you. I’ll be sure to do so,” the informant replied, a professional smile on his face. But as he looked down at the numbers, noticing how the last four numbers were a very familiar 7983, his smile slipped.

Thankfully, he managed to catch his the very next second. But while he quickly dismissed his suspicion and left, his reaction hadn’t go unnoticed by the four sets of eyes that were on him.

Reading his mind, Zhengting knew for sure that he had gotten the right number but even without such powers, Xukun and his two men also knew they had gotten what they wanted.

And a few days later, Xukun’s men returned with the exact supplies they had wanted, the passcode Zhengting had gotten was correct.

Another two days had passed since then. Zhengting had just gotten out of the bath, a towel in his hands as he wiped at his damp locks. Just then, the door opened revealing Xukun. In an instant, Zhengting visibly perked, a huge smile he tried to hold in but couldn’t forming on his face.

Xukun had previously told Zhengting that the raid was happening on that day. Confident that it would be a success, Zhengting had a feeling the next time Xukun showed up, he would come bringing the good news that Zhengting was indeed meeting his parents.

Seeing this reaction, Xukun smiled, genuinely happy, even though it had a slight bitter edge to it.

Stepping into the room completely, the items Xukun had brought along with him finally came into view. He had brought along a glass bottle resembling a pill bottle, and another serious looking bracelet of sorts. At first glance, Zhengting had thought that Xukun had brought along the shock bracelet that he very much hated. But upon looking at it more closely, Zhengting found that while they were similar in their general structure, this was different. Not quite understanding what all this meant, Zhengting quirked his head to one side as he stared up at Xukun questioningly.

However, Xukun made no move to answer his queries. Instead, he had set the items aside before expertly fishing out the hair dryer kept away in a drawer in the bathroom. He plugged it into the socket next to Zhengting’s bed before settling behind the mind reader, gently going through each section of hair as he dried them off.

While Zhengting did have many questions he strongly wanted to ask, he kept them all in, afraid to interrupt this little moment of theirs. Because for some reason, Zhengting could feel his heart racing in his chest, fluttering at every touch he felt from behind him. He didn’t quite understand this reaction of his, but what he did know was that he didn’t want it to end.

So the pair stayed in silence as they both savoured this little moment of theirs, the winds from the hair dryer being the only sound masking their rapid heart poundings.

When Zhengting’s hair was finally dry, with Xukun realising he could prolong this moment no longer, he switched off the hair dryer and said, “I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news for you. Which do you…”

Before he could even finish his sentence, Zhengting immediately cheered, “Good news!” turning around to face Xukun as he did, one fist raised above his head as though cheering himself on. 

And for the first time ever since they met, Xukun broke into a fit of laughter. No, it wasn’t just mere smiles or even expressionless straight faces, he was full on laughing, head-thrown-back-hands-cradling-stomach laughing. While Xukun had been slightly upset about having to convey this message, that part of him had left at this very instant and all he could feel was a joy he hadn’t in a long time. 

Initially, he had expected that Zhengting would want to hear the bad news first, because that was what he would have chosen. But as expected, this adorable little dolt never failed to surprise him.

Seeing this reaction, Zhengting pouted, whining a short “Hey!” as he eyed Xukun suspiciously. But deep down, he was not even the slightest bit mad. The sight of Xukun laughing like this shining in his eyes and he knew this would be a piece of memory he would hold on to for years to come. 

Once Xukun had managed to contain himself, calming himself down, he said, voice gentle, “Congrats! You’re meeting your parents tomorrow.” A hand raised as he made to ran his fingers through the soft locks he had just dried. However, he soon found that his hand had missed, the head it was approaching missing all because Zhengting had hopped off his bed and had commenced his little cheering session, jumping all over the place.

Despite how Zhengting knew there was still a bad news of some sort awaiting him, it seemed as though he had no regard for it. It was only when Xukun had pulled him by his arms, with Zhengting landing right in Xukun’s embrace that he finally stopped cheering.

Burying his face against Zhengting’s neck as he cuddled him from behind, Xukun whispered, “I tried my best…”

As it turned out, there were still many that harboured doubts about sending the mind reader out. Hence, the final outcome Xukun had managed to strive for was that Zhengting could meet his parents under certain conditions.

Zhengting’s parents would be informed of the location they will be meeting at, and they would have no say over it, hence lowering of the chances for them to stage anything. Zhengting would be brought over. However, he would have to be wearing a tracker the entire time he was outside. Not only that, as a way of preventing Zhengting from using his powers, especially given how good he had gotten with it, Zhengting cannot be conscious when transported. He would have to taken sleeping pills for the journey to and fro.

Zhengting couldn’t sleep the whole night, his mind buzzing as the excitement for the next day refused to contain itself. So when his alarm clock finally rang, Zhengting jumped right out of bed. He took a nice and long shower to freshen up, and changed into a nice set of button downs and jeans, wanting to look presentable for the day, not wanting his parents to worry too much about him.

While the most logical thing to do would probably be to try and escape now that he finally had a chance to leave the place and be with his parents, the fact is that Zhengting knew the chances were rather slim. With the arrangement Xukun had told him the night before, it was obvious that they had thought this through very carefully. So Zhengting reckoned, the next best alternative would have been to continue to cooperate and to at least have a little more bargaining power in his hands, and to reassure his parents to the best of his ability so that at least they would know he was safe.

Before long, Xukun entered, a bowl of porridge set on top of the tray in his hands, along with the same two items from the night before. For some reason, the two didn’t exchange much words as they sat on edge of the bed, Zhengting quietly eating his breakfast.

Once done, Xukun took Zhengting’s hand in his as he put on the tracker for Zhengting, locking it in place with a small key. With the tracker in place, standing out starkly against the white button down shirt, Xukun then poured out one pill from the bottle and placed it in Zhengting’s hands.

Without any hesitation, Zhengting popped it into his mouth, and gulped it down with a mouth of water. The effects didn’t kick in immediately, but with the two seating there on his bed silently, nothing quite happening, coupled with his lack of sleep last night, Zhengting found his eyelids getting heavier by the moment. Before long, he could no longer keep his body upright so with a slight movement, he leaned to his side, landing against a firm, warm body. Closing his eyes, Zhengting rested his head onto Xukun’s shoulders as he fell into a deep sleep.

When Zhengting finally came to again, hands reaching to rub at his eyes, he was immediately pulled into a tight embrace. It was his parents, his parents who had headed to an apartment in a remote location without question, his parents who had waited anxiously by the bed for their unconscious son to wake up, his parents who deeply misses their dear baby boy.

Seeing the sight of Zhengting and his parents, Xukun couldn’t help wondering what it was like to have a family of his own. Wanting to give them some privacy, he left the room to join the rest of his men who were keeping watch around all possible exits.

While many of them had previously warned him against giving Zhengting too much freedom and privacy during this trip out, not wanting to provide him and his family any chance of escape, Xukun just couldn’t bring himself to listen. He recognised their concerns, but now that he has had a chance to get to know Zhengting, he could no longer treat him the way he had when they first captured him, cruel and brutal.

Zhengting was a fellow human, just like all of them. 

Even though Xukun couldn’t just let him go, not with the threat this might pose to all the people with him and in the South, the least he could do was to give him the respect he deserved.

So Xukun gave Zhengting alone time with his family, he even allowed him to stay the night as long as Zhengting remained in the compounds he provided and guarded.

When it was time for Zhengting to leave, his parents being the one to coax Zhengting into taking the sleeping pill. All three of them had wanted to seem brave and fearless in front of each other, not wanting each other to worry. But at the same time, Zhengting also hadn’t wanted their time together to just end like this.

So when Zhengting finally fell asleep, in his parents embrace this time round, tears finally trickled down their faces when Xukun took their dear son away from them, carrying him off to their car.

Initially, Zhengting’s mother had resisted, cradling Zhengting tightly in her arms, but she eventually retrieved them back, wiping at her tears when Xukun made no move to let go either.

On their way back to their base, with Zhengting leaning his head on Xukun’s shoulder, the latter took Zhengting’s hand in his own, thumb gently caressing the palm in his.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered, loud enough for only Zhengting to hear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> new update! just a slight warning i guess, updates may be slower now because i'm starting school soon ;-; have to make up for the entire sem that i missed
> 
> anyway, thank you for reading! please do drop a comment or kudos if you enjoyed this! 
> 
> ps: are we possibly getting a zhengkun reunion! /fingers crossed/


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heads up, trigger warning for violence in this chapter. if anyone is uncomfortable, just leave me a comment and i can give you a summary of what happened

After that night Zhengting spent with his parents, it was as though everything had returned to how it had been in the months prior, as though Zhengting had merely dreamt of reuniting with his parents and that all of which was nothing more than his mere imagination.

Zhengting was back to his daily trainings again, the same old routines, reading people’s minds, talking to them. The only difference was that he was noticeably stronger than he had been when he first arrived. All the things he used to have to work hard to do, things that would have exhausted him by the end of the day, he could now carry out with much ease, spending much less time and effort completing them.

One day, he had been doing the same old, gathering everyone in the building down in the field where he could read their minds from his position up in his room, Zhengting scanned the crowd, not having to focus on each person any longer to know what they were thinking. 

And it was at that moment, Zhengting backtracked, eyes fleeting back to where he had just scanned past. There was someone… Who was it…

Now paying much more attention to what he was doing, carefully reading each person’s thoughts, Zhengting finally stopped on this one man. He was rather small, plain, unassuming. Zhengting reckoned he wouldn’t have even noticed this person otherwise, if not for the thoughts he had in his head.

“Kun, you have a spy,” Zhengting announced, causing Xukun to jolt his head up from where he was seated, scrolling away on his phone carelessly.

Taking a few big steps over, Xukun peered out of the window, staring at the person Zhengting had pointed out. 

“Prove it.”

While Xukun trust Zhengting without a single bit of doubt, he still had to be responsible for all his men, he couldn’t just let himself be swayed by mere words even though deep down, he already viewed that man as a traitor. And it seemed Zhengting understood this, moving right back to try and find a way of proving this to Xukun and his men.

Digging through the spy’s mess of thoughts, Zhengting could tell how nervous he was about being in front of Zhengting for him to use for his training. His mind was moving so quickly, thoughts jumping from one topic to another as he tried to keep his mind away from anything related to his identity as a spy. But it seems that the more he tried to do so, the more such thoughts appeared in his head. And it was precisely because of how nervous he was that he did not seem to notice it when Zhengting started to drop hints and cues in his mind, guiding him to reveal more information about the traitorous things he had done.

“The letters he was sending and receiving are…” Zhengting paused as he tried to get a clearer idea of the location. “Underneath a false bottom in his wardrobe… Where he placed his towels… There’s five letters in there… One of them mentions the bridge connecting the North to the East…”

With this, Xukun knew he had heard enough. That bridge was supposed to be the location for their next misson, they were going to sabotage a shipment heading to the North and damage the bridge to prevent people from heading over from the North. This was information that Xukun hadn’t told Zhengting.

And with this specific details coming from Zhengting who hasn’t even been anywhere else in this building outside his room, all Xukun had to do was to check if those letters were indeed where Zhengting said they were and he would have the all the proof he needed to declare that man a traitor.

Stopping Zhengting, who was still trying to get more information to prove his claims, Xukun grabbed onto his hand, giving it a slight squeeze before heading out to get Ziyi and Yanchen. 

“Don’t let them back yet, don’t want people snooping around until I get those evidence,” Xukun dropped as he left.

It should come with no surprise that when Xukun went straight to the man’s room, pulling open the wardrobe, pushing the towels aside, there was indeed a thin wooden board hiding the five letters underneath it. Snatching those letters away, Xukun threw the rest at Yanchen and Ziyi before ripping one of the letters open.

Of the five letters, there was indeed one that mentioned the very bridge Zhengting was talking about. But even without that, the contents on the letters were more than sufficient proof of the man’s traitorous actions, how he had divulged all their plans, and how he was clearly in the talks of setting up a trap to round everyone up. Instantly, Xukun could feel his jaw clenching as anger grew in him. However, more than the anger and betrayal one would expect him to feel, Xukun felt annoyed more than anything. 

With everyone still in the fields, Xukun lead the other two out, ready to expose the traitor in front of everyone else. 

With the contents of the letters read out to everyone, the unassuming man was singled out, a few people in the crowd who had felt more strongly about this betrayal had decided they were to take matters in their own hands, bolting over just to swing a few punches and land a few kicks on the man that had spoiled their plans. When the traitor was all bruised and bloodied, blood seeping out from the grazes he had all over, he was dragged away before everyone’s eyes, to be locked away until they found out whom he was talking to in his letters.

From his position in his room, Zhengting had full view of everything that happened in the fields, you could even consider it a VIP seat if you would. And with his powers, he could easily find out what was being said even if he had been to high up to hear them. But somewhere along the lines, probably when things started escalating violently, Zhengting had turned away, choosing to bury himself in his blanket in bed instead.

While his life had taken a supposed turn for the worse a few months back, violence was something Zhengting had somehow managed to avoid thus far, and for the slightest of moments, he had thought he could avoid it forever.

But it seemed now that that wasn’t so, and things were only going to get more brutal.

While Xukun had always considered himself to be rational and calm, he would soon realise that he had been too careless in the way he handled this situation, and that this neglect was going to cost him heavily.

From how all this had happened during Zhengting’s training, it was not difficult for people to make the connection of what happened to him. Besides, the whole reason for having a mind reader is precisely for this purpose of obtaining information isn’t it? 

But while most generally had no problems with this arrangement, happy even that a traitor was found before anything too drastic had happen, some clearly disagreed.

And no, the ones that were unhappy weren’t traitors or spies themselves, they were genuinely here because they wanted the suffering in the South to stop. They weren’t unhappy about a spy being found, there’s concrete evidence to prove him guilty, instead they were displeased about how highly Xukun seemed to regard Zhengting. This random mind reader who they had no reason to trust, much less recognise for his ridiculous powers, just happened to show up and now occupies most of their leader’s time and efforts.

These people believed that for the sake of sticking to their original goals, they needed their leader to keep his attention on the South and away from all distractions. With this, this small bunch of five acted, determined to get Xukun back on track. 

Lying in bed with his head buried in the newest novel Xukun had gotten him, Zhengting was startled when the room suddenly descended into darkness. As his eyes slowly grew accustomed to the newfound darkness, Zhengting realised that it wasn’t just the lights that had gone out, the air conditioner had stopped too judging from the pin drop silence, lacking the usual hum of the air conditioner he had grown used to.

Deciding that the trip shouldn’t be of much trouble, reckoning that everything would come back on in a couple of minutes, Zhengting continued to lie in bed as he waited. But before the electricity could come back on, Zhengting could hear some rattling noises coming from behind the door. For a slight while, Zhengting had just brushed it off, thinking it had to be Xukun, he was the only one who comes to find him after all.

But when the noises got unnaturally loud, with a few distinct hammering sounds seeping in through the gap beneath the door, Zhengting found himself raising his guard, his heart hammering in his chest as the noise got louder and louder. 

When the door finally flew open, and Xukun being no where in sight, five unfamiliar faces appearing in his place, Zhengting found himself sinking into the familiar sense of fear and uncertainty he was so used to when he first got thrown into this life.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Zhengting asked, fist clenching tight by his sides now that he had bolted out of bed, his mind falling into the familiar sequence of scanning through thoughts after thoughts as Zhengting tried to gain as much of an upper hand as he could by knowing what these strangers were thinking.

And he was soon drowned in malicious intentions as the thoughts of how these people intended to hurt him, harm him resounded in his head. Immediately, as if happening purely by reflex, Zhengting started to call out for Xukun with his powers. 

“Kun!” he screamed as loud as he could even though not a single other person could hear his screams, all but one.

When the electricity trip had happened, Xukun had been in a meeting with his few most trusted men again, discussing about what they were to do with the traitor they had found within their midst and the missions that had been leaked out.

Unlike how Zhengting had been rather indifferent about the trip initially, merely waiting for the electricity to come back on, Xukun and his men were immediately on guard when the lights went out. At once, Xukun immediately sent Yanchen down to check on the main circuits.

As the rest waited for Yanchen to update them on the details behind the trip, that was when Xukun heard the loudest cry Zhengting had ever sent him. Instantly, Xukun shot up from his seat and bolted towards Zhengting’s room at the top of the building. 

It wasn’t rare for Zhengting to call for him, but this was different and he knew it. 

Something was wrong. 

With each step of the stairs he took, he could hear the urgency and desperation in Zhengting’s voice grow. And this only fuelled him to push himself harder as he sprinted for the top as fast as he could.

“Please… Please…” Xukun kept repeating in his head, though he never once mentioned just what he was begging for.

When he finally reached the top floor, the door to Zhengting’s room in his view, Xukun immediately knew his suspicions were right. The digital lock attached to the heavy metal door had been smashed in, crumbled into the pile of metal it now was. 

Someone had entered.

Reaching towards the edge of the heavy metal door, Xukun tried his best to pry it open. His fingers trying his best to dig into the small crevice between the door and its frame just so he could gain some leverage to pull the door open now that the lock was ruined.

But the door just wouldn’t budge, after all it was designed to be infallible, to only open when unlocked, Xukun made sure of that.

Filled with desperation and anger, Xukun started banging repeatedly on the door, the heavy metal vibrating in place as the low sound reverberated throughout the room.

On the other end, not long after Zhengting had started calling for Xukun, the five men had started to close in on him, causing him to back up what little distance he could before he felt his legs hit the edge of the bed he had just gotten out of.

And from that point onwards, it was as though something in these people had broke as they decided to not waste second longer and flew into action. With a hand flying out to grab at Zhengting, they threw him onto his bed and started landing punches and kicks on him.

Having never been in a single fight his whole life, Zhengting had no idea what to do, merely trying his best to curl himself up into a ball, arms trying its best to shield his head from the attacks. Zhengting tried to keep his eyes on them so that he could at least use his powers to help him in however way it could. But as the pain sprouted all over his body, and with him protecting his head with his arms, he found himself having a hard time keeping it up.

Without realising, Zhengting’s cries for help got louder and louder. What had originally just been in his head was now shouted out along with his thoughts, he could no longer control what he was doing.

But it was his cries for Xukun that fuelled the hatred in these men even more. Upon hearing Zhengting calling for their leader, one of the five men halted his actions, merely watching as the rest continued to assault the mind reader. 

“Stop…” he said, hands reaching to stop the attacks. 

For a slightest moment, Zhengting thought it was finally ending, but the man’s next words shocked him beyond words. 

“He’s not going to stop hindering us and our goals just like this, we need to cut the head off the snake. He needs to see to read people’s minds, so I suggest we blind him.”

Immediately, red flags went off in Zhengting’s head, a sudden surge of energy rising in him as the pain from before faded away. He started to resist, struggling violently against the people who have started to hold him down.

Zhengting felt people prying his hands away from his head, exposing his face to the assaulters around him, arms weighing down on his legs as he kicked around incessantly. 

With this face exposed, Zhengting had full view of everyone around him and the thoughts they had. With the intense distress he was in, tears started welling up in his eyes, clouding his vision and blurring out the cruel thoughts he was hearing. 

“Please… Please don’t,” Zhengting wailed.

But that didn’t do much more than bring a smile to the man who had made this suggestion as he reached a hand out to force Zhengting to face him, seeing how the latter had resorted to angling his face to the side as an attempt to hide his eyes away as much as he could.

With just the slightest bit of touch Zhengting felt as the man tried to angle his face back, the telepath flinched, his whole body jerking violently as he screamed as loud as he could, “Stop!”

Overwhelmed by the intense fear he felt, Zhengting trembled uncontrollably. With the immense distress he was in, he couldn’t even pay attention to anything around him anymore, streaks of tears falling down his face one after another. And it was precisely because of this that he didn’t notice the loud banging on the door, the blaring screech of the door being pried open, and the way the five men around him had been completely motionless in their place before being thrown to the side by Xukun.

By the time Xukun reached Zhengting, pulling the battered mind reader into his embrace, Zhengting’s eyes fluttered close as all the adrenaline ran out, the mind reader slipped into unconsciousness. 

When Zhengting woke up again, it seemed to have already been late into the night, the soft ticking of the clock the only sound breaking the silence of the night. 

Lying comfortably in his bed, tucked underneath his soft blankets, Zhengting felt as though he was transported back to the time when he had first arrived, always passing out from overexertion during his training, only to wake up in bed like this hours later.

When Zhengting shifted slightly, wanting to adjust his position in bed, that was when he felt the weight on top of his hands that were laid on his stomach.

Someone’s hands were on top of his. 

Without even having the chance to process this, Zhengting’s body reacted quicker than his brain could, flinging the hand away as he pulled the blanket tighter around himself while backing away, putting some distance between himself and whoever it was.

But it was only after he had done all that did he realised who it was.

Having had his hand suddenly flung away, Xukun woke up with a start. But before he even had the chance to continue to bask in the feeling of being woken up, his brain immediately brought up the events that had lead up to this moment, and in an instant, Xukun was wide awake.

Registering the sight before him, Xukun felt the familiar tug in his chest again. There, before him, was the sight of Zhengting all battered and bruised, hiding himself away in the thick blanket. And it was all because of him.

Without realising, the words “I’m sorry” escaped Xukun’s lips. And with the words he had thought over and over again to himself and yet had never said now out in the open, Xukun felt as though he just couldn’t stop apologising. So he repeated them over and over and over again, wanting to make up for all the other times he failed to say them to Zhengting. 

“I’m sorry…”

_Sorry for holding your hand, sorry for what happened, sorry for bringing you into this…. I was suppose to keep you safe…_

Amidst Xukun’s unceasing apologies, Zhengting found himself peeking out of the blankets, watching as the usually composed man before him break down the walls he had built around himself. 

“But I failed…” Zhengting could hear Xukun thinking to himself.

When Xukun suddenly remembered that Zhengting might still be afraid of what had happened, he started to reassure him, “Those people… The ones that hurt you, they are gone. They can never hurt you again.”

_I’ll never let them hurt you again…_

On the surface, Xukun appeared more distraught than usual, his hair a mess, his eyes red, creases from falling asleep on his arm obvious on his cheeks. But despite it all, when compared to all the emotions Zhengting could hear in his thoughts, what he was showing was nothing but the tip of the iceberg.

From his thoughts, Zhengting could see sense how disappointed in himself Xukun was, his mind a mess of emotions, nothing like the calm, collected Xukun who controlled even his thoughts around him.

This was the real Xukun.

Realising the way Zhengting was staring at him, Xukun realised how unwelcomed he may be, how he was the one who brought this onto Zhengting and how he had no right to be upset around Zhengting like this. 

“You probably don’t want me here, I should go,” Xukun said as he pushed himself up from his seat next to Zhengting’s bed, ready to leave.

For some reason, Zhengting felt uneasy letting Xukun go like this. But he hesitated, he wasn’t sure what exactly was he feeling, he couldn’t understand it.

Just as Xukun was at the door, he heard the softest, slightest, “Stay… I… Don’t want to be alone…”

For a while, Xukun made no move to leave or to go back to Zhengting’s side, he just stood there, not quite knowing what he should do. But when he finally let himself turn around to head back to Zhengting, he saw how the latter who had previously buried himself in his blankets was now sitting up on his bed, the thick blankets pooling at his waist.

Without saying anything, Xukun made his way back to Zhengting slowly. But his words weren’t necessary, because his thoughts told Zhengting everything he needed to know, how guilty he felt about taking everything away from Zhengting, for ruining his life, for making him lonely. It was all his fault. 

And in the midst of Xukun’s chaotic mind, something managed to seep through with Xukun’s lack of control over his thoughts, something that contrasted strongly with all the guilt and disappointment that was present, something beautiful.

Flashes of memories started showing. Memories of Zhengting beaming at him with the freesia behind his ear, memories of Zhengting crying in his arms for the first time, memories of Zhengting jumping around in cheer when allowed to see his parents. 

Flashes after flashes after flashes and yet every single memory had to do with him.

And as all this memories played one after another, Zhengting realised that they weren’t just any memories, they were treasured one. The emotions he could get from them reminded him of all the times when the people around him was sharing their fondest memories with him.

Without realising it, Zhengting’s eyes widened in shock. But while this may have slipped out of Zhengting’s consciousness, Xukun never failed to notice it. And it was then he knew that Zhengting was aware of how he felt towards him.

Pushing Zhengting gently back into bed, Xukun pulled the blankets up to his shoulders. “Don’t worry about it, go to sleep,” he said, a gentle smile on his lips.

Having no prior romantic experiences, Zhengting didn’t know what to do. But seeing the way Xukun was smiling at him, he did as he was told and closed his eyes.

The room returned back to the silence it was previously in as Xukun stayed by Zhengting’s side, watching over him as he slept, or so that was what Xukun thought as Zhengting suddenly asked after nearly 30 minutes of silence, “Is it true?”

Without answering Zhengting, Xukun ran his hand through the former’s soft locks, prompting him to go back to sleep. But Zhengting was not about to take avoidance as an answer as he pressed again, “Is it true?”

Despite this, Zhengting still didn’t receive any answers as Xukun continued to stay silent. Slightly annoyed, Zhengting whispered, “But how did I not notice it in your thoughts before?” His lips forming a slight pout as his brows furrowed slightly, but even then, Zhengting kept his eyes closed.

Smiling fondly, Xukun reached out to smooth out those creased brows. And it was at that moment Zhengting’s eyes flew open, bringing the sight of Xukun smiling endearingly at him into view, the thoughts in his head screaming nothing but love.

And just like this, Zhengting got the answer to his question even if Xukun hadn’t told him his answer, there was no need to.

Zhengting already knew.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally back! sorry it took so long for me to update. i think i'll be able to update regularly until the end of this fic now, hoping to finish this series latest by the end of september. as for the plot, we are now going into the main conflict of the fic. thank you to anyone who is still reading this!


	6. Chapter 6

The next time Zhengting was awake, he didn’t feel the same weight from before on his hands. Moving them instinctively, without even having blinked away the blur of his vision from his sleep, Zhengting looked for the familiar warmth. While he hadn’t managed to find it, the said warmth soon found him as Xukun heard the shuffling noises coming from the bed and quickly got up to check on him, grabbing the wondering hand firmly in his own.

Regaining his sense of security after finding out Xukun was still by his side, Zhengting pulled the hand towards himself so that he could bring the entire arm into his embrace, treating it like a bolster as he was ready to fall back into sleep.

Accommodating Zhengting’s pull, Xukun had ended up in an awkward position as he was forced to lean on the bed while he made sure to not crush the sleepy head next to him. Seeing how Zhengting was about to fall right back into his deep sleep, Xukun decided that was enough sleep and very lightly ran the fingers of his free hand through Zhengting’s soft locks.

“Wake up, sleepy head.”

After finally getting Zhengting out of bed and into the bathroom to wash up, Xukun quickly arranged for someone to send up the porridge he had told them to prepare beforehand. It had been close to a full day now since the attack and while Xukun would have liked to let Zhengting rest, he reckoned the mind reader should at least eat something first.

As Zhengting ate, Xukun helped Zhengting ice the few bruises he had noticed when he was treating Zhengting’s wounds earlier when he had fell unconscious, bruises Zhengting himself didn’t even have the time to register before he fell asleep. So when Xukun had started shoving ice packs up his shirt, Zhengting was totally caught by surprise, the bowl of porridge in his hands almost tipping over if not for Xukun’s quick reaction.

As it turns out, Zhengting had sustained many cuts and bruises all over judging from how many ice packs Xukun was placing all over his body. “I don’t even want to know what I look like now,” he thought.

After the meal, Xukun immediately started digging around in the first aid box again once he had managed to set Zhengting’s bowl aside. With a q tip, Xukun very gently started applying a new layer of antiseptic solution to the cuts on Zhengting’s arms, using as little force as he could. But unlike how it was when Zhengting had been unconscious, it seems no matter how light Xukun was, the wounds still hurt as Zhengting started hissing in pain.

With every hiss and frown from the pain, Xukun could feel the intense tug in his chest, like someone had reached their hand in and grabbed ahold of his heart, clenching it in their fists tightly. Maybe that was indeed what had happened, that someone had gone and injured, bruised and battered his heart, like they did to Zhengting.

After all, Zhengting was his heart.

So with each pained reaction Zhengting had, Xukun only swore to never let Zhengting get hurt again. And this time, he prayed that he could keep his promise for he doesn’t know what he would do if he had to witness Zhengting in pain again, the scene from before repeating itself in his head over and over again.

Nothing can describe the way he felt when he had to hear the devastating screams Zhengting had sent him, the way they had occupied all his senses, rooting themselves deep in his mind, refusing to leave him even when Zhengting had stopped screaming in reality.

And when he had finally threw the door open, coming face to face with the sight of Zhengting, wounded, held down in bed, Xukun felt as though he couldn’t breathe. 

There was no way he could allow this to happen again.

With this, it would seem that the most obvious thing to do was to stay by Zhengting’s side, watching over him, keeping him safe. And this was exactly what Xukun wanted to do. But why was it that every time he looked at the person he wanted to protect so dearly, his mind would only continue to remind him of what had happened, repeating the scene over and over in his head.

Based on what had happened when Zhengting had woken up in the middle of the night, Xukun knew that he was reading his mind again. So what should he do now? He can’t possibly make Zhengting relive those horrible memories with through his thoughts, that is literally the last thing he wants to do.

So Xukun did what he thought was the next best option. Immediately after he was done with Zhengting’s wounds, Xukun threw a quick good bye and left, choosing to stay out of Zhengting’s sight, collapsing into a heap against the wall outside the room.

While Xukun may have done this with the intention of protecting Zhengting, the latter couldn’t have been more confused when Xukun had left so suddenly, failing to react until he was the only person left in his room, the same room where he had experienced the best and worst memories ever since his peaceful life was disrupted.

Being left alone here again, even the beautiful ceiling of dried freesias he had managed to build wasn’t enough to keep the sense of insecurity away.

He was alone in this room when it happened.

Wrapping himself tightly in his blanket, making sure that they covered every part of him, his feet, his arms, his head, Zhengting willed himself to fall asleep.

While Zhengting was busying trying to count sheep in head, Xukun was seated on the floor right outside Zhengting’s room, typing away at his work while he sat just an arm’s width away from the damaged metal door.

So when Zhengting finally gave up on counting sheep, having reached a few hundred and still unable to distract himself from the overwhelming anxiety, and used his powers, calling out softly, “Kun,” the metal door flew open within seconds.

In that moment, Zhengting had to admit to feeling as though his heart was about to jump out with how the door flew open, but when he saw Xukun running in and towards him, pulling him into his embrace, Zhengting felt all the anxiety slip away.

“Don’t leave me alone here again.”

And that was how Xukun had ended up seated in bed, texting away with a few of his men, deciding what to do with the men they had caught earlier as Zhengting snuggled close, an arm thrown carelessly over Xukun’s lap. Running a free hand through Zhengting’s hair every once in a while, his actions contrasted greatly with the messages he was sending out.

_Keep interrogating the spy. I don’t care what you have to do as long as he talks._ _Get rid of the rest, I don’t ever want to see them again._

_But boss, we tried everything. He’s not talking._

_Let him starve. No sending of food and water for the next day._ _Let him rot in the dark, we’ll see if he talks._

In the mean time, locked up alone in one of the rooms underground, was the very person who had suggested to blind Zhengting not too long ago. Whatever arrogance he once had had all faded away, replaced by an immense fear. No, it wasn’t the fact that he was caught and locked up that scared him, nor the fact that he might die soon that frightened him, it was that moment of helplessness from before that truly terrified him.

Back when he was in Zhengting’s room, he remembered he was holding the telepath down, reaching down with the intention of forcing him to face him. But he never managed to do so, he couldn’t reach Zhengting. He was already so close, his hands mere centimeters away. But it was as though there was an invisible force holding him back, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t move.

He had stayed in that exact position for possibly a whole minute, and it was only when Xukun had finally threw the door open, hurling him to one side that he finally broke free.

At that moment, he realised what he had done, what they had all done. They had unleashed the demon without realising it.

The telepath was a threat they should never have involved with.

It didn’t take long for Zhengting to realise the change, to realise how Xukun was always by his side now. Even back then, before all this happened and Xukun started avoiding him, Zhengting do still get quite a decent amount of solidarity. But ever since he had voice out his desires of not being left alone anymore, it was as though Xukun had moved in to stay in his tiny little room with him.

Maybe it was the fact that they were both aware of the feelings Xukun had for him now, but the dynamics of their relationship seemed to have taken a turn. Back then Xukun never shared anything with him, wrapping himself up very securely within the figurative walls he had built around him, hiding every thought, every emotion. But now, Zhengting didn’t even have to read Xukun’s mind to know what he was feeling, he was expressing every emotion without any reservations. 

And for the slightest moment, Zhengting thought to himself, he was happy.

Granted, sometimes Xukun was a little overprotective, fretting over every little thing like Zhengting was a fragile porcelain doll. There was this once Zhengting had gotten up a little too fast and had accidentally hit his head against Xukun’s elbow. For the rest of that day, the latter just couldn’t stop worrying, hand going up to caress at Zhengting’s head repeatedly.

Zhengting would say he didn’t need this, but that might be a lie, he wasn’t sure. He wasn’t opposed to it though, maybe even welcomed it. It was nice to finally have someone who truly cares about him around, to not have to be made to train and join missions, to not have to feel like his only worth was in his powers anymore. Instead, he got to do whatever he wanted with his time, spending the days lazing away as he slowly healed from his first ever set of injuries in his life. He was never the kid to go running off into fistfights after all.

So Zhengting spent days snuggling up against Xukun as he worked away on his laptop, the consistent typing lulling him to sleep. At times, Zhengting would force himself to stay awake, doing his best to keep his heavy eyelids open as he silently stared at Xukun, watching the way he was so focused on his work. It was during times like this where Xukun would start patting away on Zhengting’s lower back, lulling him to sleep even more. But when what he was working on could wait, Xukun would pick up these little hints Zhengting was throwing at him and set his work aside, spending the time with Zhengting instead; board games, movies, books, whatever he wanted.

Unknown to Zhengting was what Xukun had been doing to keep things this way. As it turned out, the spy had been adamant on not talking, refusing to give in no matter what tactics they had resorted to. Hence, for a while now, Xukun’s subordinates have been incessantly suggesting to just get Zhengting to do the job. He would have managed to settle this with close to no effort at all. After all, isn’t this why they brought the telepath in in the first place, to read people’s minds?

But regardless of how many times they had brought it up, Xukun rejected every suggestion without a moment’s hesitation. He’s aware that this were rather self-serving decisions he was making, but he now knew how it felt putting Zhengting in danger, and he wasn’t going to let that happen ever again. No matter how small the chances of Zhengting getting hurt were, he now had something worth protecting, and Xukun was going to shield the most precious thing he has ever had in life from all dangers.

And before anyone had the time to react, the spy had acted, slamming his head onto the metal table repeatedly. Zhengting wouldn’t be made to read his mind for intel anymore. 

With the line of intelligence broken, now came the next issue of concern, the mission involving the bridge connecting the North to the East that they were originally intending to sabotage. According to the letters they found, the mission was likely compromised and it would be common sense to think that it shouldn’t go on with it anymore. 

The shipment they were intending on hijacking included rations and medical supplies. While they were beneficial to have, at the moment, they weren’t necessary. They had been pretty successful recently with their past few missions and had enough supplies to last for the next couple of weeks. That being said, Xukun had thought that this mission was the best opportunity for them to find out who exactly was on the other end of the letters.

Why did they send a spy into their grounds, what are they planning, what do they want?

Without this information, Xukun felt as though they would always been on the passive end of things, never having the upper hand against the mysterious enemy.

The mission can’t go on that was for sure, but Xukun had an idea. He proposed to send a small team out to keep an eye on the shipments, they wouldn’t attack, but if they were lucky maybe they could figure out who the other party was and what they were originally intending on doing with the spy’s information. However, this was all under the assumption that they other party hadn’t gotten wind of the spy being found.

If they did realise that their spy was compromised, there is no telling the amount of risk Xukun and his men would be in. After all, they had no idea who they were up against. But Xukun rationalized that this needed to be done, because they would have to try and find out who the other party was eventually, and rather than waiting for whoever they were to do something with the information they had, maybe it would be wiser to strike first. 

The plan was for a small group to disguise themselves and mix into the crowd of normal civilians at the small town before the bridge. They would position themselves at various points along the cross roads, and to monitor the people guarding the shipment. From the way the officers guarding the shipment act, they can at least determine if it was the governors in the North were the ones who sent the spy, or was it some other organisation from elsewhere. 

If everything goes smoothly, then they would be expecting an attack that would no longer happen and by the time they find out, they would have already gotten to the bridge. By then, Xukun and his men would be long gone, they will not pursue the shipment out of the town. As long as the news about the spy hasn’t gotten out, then all will be well.

When Xukun was proposing this idea, most had seemed to agree with him on the importance of finding out who the spy works for, but there was always someone who brought up including Zhengting. This seemed to have been a reoccurring act for the past couple of weeks now, Xukun thought. Without a moment’s hesitation, Xukun rejected the idea, refusing to listen to how having Zhengting with them meant that their chances of figuring out the other party’s identity and plan would increase tremendously, reducing the risk everyone else involved would be in.

Hearing the exact same rejection from Xukun for countless times now, always citing the same reason of “Zhengting is still recovering, he’s not in the condition to be brought out for a mission”, even Xukun’s most trusted men were at their wits end. 

Being the ones closest to Xukun, coupled with the fact that they witnessed Xukun’s utter fear and concern when Zhengting was assaulted, they knew of the importance the mind reader had on their boss. And as the ones who saw and treated Xukun as a fellow human being, they were heartened to see him finally find someone to share his heart with. But Xukun still wasn’t just a friend to them, he was also the head of their mission to help those in the South, and it was not difficult to see how his feelings were interfering with his decisions, even when these decisions would determine everyone’s safety.

To them, it just didn’t seem rational in any way, shape or form to not bring Zhengting with them. Sure, they hadn’t gotten to see how Zhengting was doing, what with Xukun pretty much hiding him away from everyone, and refusing to involve him in anything they were doing. But from what they had seen the day Zhengting got hurt, those injuries should have long healed. Granted, there was the psychological trauma that could have been left behind, but for the sake of everyone’s safety, Zhengting’s involvement seemed necessary.

So that was how they came up with a plan behind Xukun’s back, a plan to get Zhengting in on their mission and to let Xukun realise that he was letting his personal feelings cloud his judgments.

With that, Yanchen and Ziyi came knocking on the still damaged metal door of Zhengting’s room one day. Like every other day now, Xukun was the one who came to open the door, not letting the two take even a step in. With the door slightly ajar, Xukun asked them what they were here for. 

“It’s about the mission. Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider? Zhengtin-,” Ziyi was cut off just as he was about to mention the mind reader. Not wanting Zhengting to hear about the upcoming mission and the either debate about including him, Xukun quickly pulled Ziyi along with him out of the room.

“Yanchen, guard the door,” Xukun instructed as the two headed off further down the corridor to continue their conversation. Leaning nonchalantly on the closing door, Yanchen watched as the two got further and further. And only when they were far enough, Yanchen very softly knocked on the heavy metal doors.

In the room, Zhengting knew there was someone at the doors. Having not come face to face with anyone besides Xukun for the past weeks, Zhengting simply stared at the shadow shining in from the gap underneath the door, unsure how he was supposed to react to random knocking at his doors. Then, the door slipped open just a tiny bit more for Zhengting to be able to make out who it was. He recognised Yanchen, Xukun clearly trusted him a lot. 

“Why did you knock?” Zhengting asked Yanchen with his powers.

And that was how Yanchen managed to inform Zhengting about the upcoming mission and the risks Xukun was putting himself and all those going with him in. 

“He’s not going to admit it, but we need you to go and keep Xukun safe. All the details are in here,” Yanchen conveyed to Zhengting as he slipped a note into the room. “Let me know once you have decided, I will come and find Xukun again to let you know that I got your message.”

A week had passed and it was the day of the mission. Despite Xukun’s wishes of never leaving Zhengting’s side again, he knew he had to be there for the mission. So he had clearly tucked Zhengting in, leaving him with a novel he had been asking for for some time now.

But just as Xukun was about to set off with the other five people in the mission, Xukun heard Zhengting calling for him again. He remembered how he had clearly explained to Zhengting that he wouldn’t be able to spend the day with him, and that the mind reader had been very understanding of his reasons. Xukun had to leave, but the thought of just ignoring Zhengting didn’t seat well with him. It was at times like this where Xukun wished he had gotten Zhengting a phone or something. 

So Xukun told the rest to get ready and rushed up to Zhengting’s room for a goodbye, only to find Zhengting all dressed and waiting for him right by the door when he had entered. Not wanting to waste anymore time, Zhengting jumped and latched himself onto Xukun, arms and legs wrapping tightly around his torso.

“I am not letting you go on a dangerous mission without me!” Zhengting said as he buried his face into Xukun’s neck, not wanting to leave a single bit of space between them.

In an instant, an expression of disbelief showed up on Xukun’s features as he walked towards the bed, patting Zhengting’s head as he tried to encourage Zhengting to let go. 

But no matter how hard Xukun tried, pulling at Zhengting’s arms and legs, they only latched back onto him the moment Xukun had moved on to another limb.

“No! I am not letting you go without me!” Zhengting insisted, his face scrunching up as he tried his best to hold on.

Letting out a deep sigh, Xukun relented, hands going down to prop Zhengting up at his thighs as they headed down to the car with Zhengting still clinging onto Xukun. As they passed through the crowds of people in the lower levels, Zhengting had to hide his face in Xukun’s chest, embarrassed of being seen like this only to hear a low rumble as Xukun laughed.

“Should have thought of this when you forced me to bring you with me.”

Throwing the car door open, both parties finally let go of one another as Xukun climbed into the car after Zhengting. Throwing a brief glance at Ziyi and Yanchen seated at the front, Xukun rolled his eyes before moving to help Zhengting with his seatbelt. 

“I’ll deal with you two when we get back.”

“No problem,” Ziyi replied as he started the car meanwhile Yanchen smirked, “You can thank us later.”

Xukun took Zhengting’s hands in his own, “And you, you are not leaving my side, got it?”

“Got it,” Zhengting answered as he laced their fingers together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update! 2 more chapters till the end of this part and then epilogue coming up! if you are still reading this, thank you! and if you would like to comment and leave kudos, i'll be really grateful for them!


	7. Chapter 7

Now that Zhengting was with them, a last minute change in plans was necessary. Thankfully, Ziyi and Yanchen had already prepared for this when they had asked the telepath to come along with them. Of the small group of seven, two of them would stage a minor accident between themselves just to hold up the traffic for some time. Unlike when Zhengting wasn’t with them where it wouldn’t matter who was the one scouting for information, now their main goal was to provide the mind reader with enough time for him to work his magic on whoever was guarding the shipment.

They were going to try their best to stall the shipment right before one of the few taller buildings in the area, that way Zhengting would be able to get a better view from above. But the traffic was a factor they couldn’t control, so there was a chance that they would have to move on the go.

But in the mean time, Xukun and Zhengting would be waiting in a café located at the third floor of the building while the rest were littered throughout the path the shipment would be passing through to help facilitate the stalling of the truck.

With a warm cup of chamomile tea in hand, Zhengting could feel himself relaxing into his seat a little. While he had insisted that Xukun bring him along, Zhengting couldn’t deny the fact that he felt slightly on edge. Maybe it was the fact that he hadn’t been out in the open for months now, or the fact that they had no idea who they were up against. But either way, Zhengting couldn’t deny the slightest bout of joy in him at the sight before him.

Seated right next to the window, having the entire view of the peaceful town right before him, coupled with the calm ballads playing from the stereo and the cozy interior of the café, Zhengting felt as though life had returned back to normal again, back to how it was before Xukun had entered his life. This setting reminded him of back when he would spent the day studying away at cafes with his friends as they prepared for their final exams.

But despite it all, what truly left a spark in him was the sight of Xukun sipping away at his Americano as the rays from the sun shone in from behind him, outlining his sharp features with a beautiful tinge of gold.

What would Zhengting give for this to be their every day. If only they had met under different circumstances. If only…

As they had made sure to arrive early, it was still slightly less than an hour before the shipment was to be passing through this town. And while they mostly sat there in silence, Zhengting reckoned he would cherish every single moment they had here. After all, who knows when they would ever get another chance like this again.

The time finally came when Xukun received a message from the men stationed the furthest from where they were, the shipment was on its way and reaching in ten minutes. From then on, his phone kept lighting up from an unbroken chain of messages as the rest of his men coordinated to help ensure the shipment was be stalled within Zhengting’s view, which it did.

But the problem came with the heavily tinted windows. It was pretty much impossible for Zhengting to see anything through them. This had definitely been a concern they had, but there wasn’t much they could do about this. Seeing how there was nothing to lose anyway, Xukun and Zhengting stayed put where they were, waiting on the off chance that whoever it was may lower their windows. Meanwhile, reports for the rest came in about how they didn’t notice anything suspicious in the vicinity, seeming as though there wasn’t any ploy to turn this against them despite the spy leaking information out about the original mission.

Just to be sure, Xukun also got Zhengting to take a read on the people around the shipment and in the café for safety measure. But there wasn’t anything suspicious.

Well, it seemed they were going back without finding out who the spy was working for then. Oh well, at least they had quite a good time in the café, at least Zhengting got to go out without being drugged and tracked this time round.

After the two men had “agreed to settle their accident privately”, they had left and the traffic slowly started moving again. Seeing this, Xukun was ready to call an end to the mission and his little getaway with Zhengting. But just then, the windows of the shipment trucked rolled down. In an instant, all seven of them who had their eyes still peeled on the shipment jolted up.

“All of you stand guard around. We can’t see them from this angle, I’ll bring Zhengting over,” Xukun quickly instructed before taking Zhengting’s hand in his as they headed over to the shipment.

Slowing down only when they were getting close so as to not arouse suspicion, the two headed towards the second floor of the building right before the shipment truck, where a clothing store stood. Through the floor to ceiling windows standing behind the racks of clothes, they managed to get a clear view of both the driver and the passenger on the truck.

Xukun could tell they were officers from the North based on their uniforms. Now all they need is for Zhengting to see if they had any knowledge of the original hijack mission and the spy and they would be able to deduce if the North was the one who sent the spy. Watching Zhengting intently, Xukun waited for the mind reader’s judgement. But instead of the confident look of affirmation, what Xukun received was a look of distress.

“It’s a trap,” Zhengting’s voice sounded in the heads of six specific people.

But before Xukun got a chance to react, a shadow loomed over them as someone approached them from behind. Reacting on pure instinct, Xukun pulled Zhengting behind him before noticing the fist closing in on him, barely dodging in time. But now that the two were no longer focusing their attention on the shipment truck outside, they finally noticed the crowd forming around them. They were surrounded.

As a few innocent passers by tried to flee, they were promptly stopped and dragged to a corner of the store by the rest of the men who were apparently planted there as a part of their ploy.

“So it seems our little spy completed his mission,” said the one who had attacked them previously, “So you can read minds, can you tell what I am thinking about now?” Looking directly at Zhengting, the brute looking man took another step forward. 

Hiding Zhengting behind him, Xukun could feel the way the telepath was shaking as memories that have barely faded started hunting him again. Refusing to answer, Xukun merely stared right back into the brute’s eyes, challengingly. 

“Oh you want to act tough, then let me teach you a lesson today,” he said as he pulled Xukun over, slamming him into the rack of clothes, “The North has had enough of you.”

While Xukun was caught off guard before, he was definitely not lacking in an one to one combat with the brute. Getting back up quickly, he managed to hold his own, dodging and deflecting. But as the rest of the crowd started joining in, things started to get out of hand. And before long, Xukun could already feel the bruises and cuts forming on his face and stomach.

While they have mostly left Zhengting alone for the time being, seeing this violent sight before him stirred up a sense of fear in him. Without realising, Zhengting’s limbs had grown numb as everything else besides the scene of Xukun being surrounded seemed to be blocked out in his head. 

And this ball of nerves only kept growing and growing until finally, the rest of Xukun’s men who had been on the mission together with them rushed in, throwing the ones standing guard at the door aside. Instantly, the commotion around Zhengting only grew. But unlike everything that was happening around him, Zhengting felt as though he was in pause while everyone else was on double speed.

Zhengting was the main objective of the ploy by the North, but he wasn’t of their top concern at the moment. As long as they managed to keep him within these four walls, he was not going to pose any trouble for them in the mean time, not when this was a fight of brute force. And so the crowd was mostly focused on keeping the remaining six in check.

Then all of a sudden, all the buzz from before faded. And finally, Zhengting registered what was going on around him. 

Guns…

So many of them…

At some point in time, Zhengting wasn’t sure when, everyone had whipped out their guns. Some of them were pointed at the other five, a number of them pointed at Zhengting, and all the rest were pointed at Xukun. Never before had Zhengting envisioned himself one day seeing a gun being pointed at himself. From his perspective, all his could see was the muzzle, it was unlike all those scenes in movies where they showed the side view, where you can distinctly see the trigger being pulled. Zhengting reckoned that if someone were to pull the trigger on him right now, he wouldn’t even notice it. 

But Zhengting wasn’t just anyone. And it was only when this realisation came that the mind reader finally registered all the voices in his head, the ones he had previously blocked out from shock, from fear. Even as Zhengting can still feel himself trembling to no end, he could now hear all the thoughts of the people standing within his view, the arrogant ones of their attackers, the fearful ones of the passers by, and the ones that couldn’t be bothered and were just here to get the job done. 

That was when Zhengting realised, “Our lives mean nothing to them.”

And then Zhengting heard it, the voice he had grown so familiar to, now playing in his head. Picking it out from the sea of voices, Zhengting listened to Xukun’s thoughts, the ones he had finally learned to trust him with. 

“Let me go! He’s shaking, I need to get to him!”

Meeting Xukun’s eyes, Zhengting saw the same warmth he saw that day when he finally found out the feelings the former had for him, only to find that it was tainted with fear and regret. 

“If only I can take away the fear, the regret…” he thought.

And then Zhengting heard it, the irrational choices being made, and without being given any chance to react, Xukun broke free from the few men surrounding him and charged towards Zhengting.

At that instant, it was as though Zhengting was the one playing at double speed instead as everything around him slowed down. He could see the exact moment specific people reacted and the decisions they made, “Shoot.”

In that slightest amount of time it took for these people to pull the trigger, so much happened in Zhengting’s mind. He could see the sight of Xukun collapsing before him right as they were an arm’s reach apart, he could see the life he would have without this man that had took everything away from him, how he would go back and lead a normal life, he could see himself growing old in a small, peaceful town. Zhengting could see himself doing all that… alone…

With that thought, a surge of adrenaline coursed through his body and everything truly came to a stand still. 

With his eyes snapped shut as he ran towards the telepath, bracing himself for the impact and the sharp pain that he thought might come, Xukun found himself crashing into Zhengting, feeling his shivering body in his arms. But the bullet never came. Snapping his head back to look at the scene behind him, Xukun finally noticed the way everyone had came to a halt.

The screams and shouts from before had faded, the fists and punches were stopped mid-air, and fingers came to a rest on the triggers, so close and yet never managing to exert that tiniest amount of force to send the bullet flying.

Not understanding what was going on, Xukun unconsciously tightened his grip, only to realise that the trembling from before had stopped too.

In an instant, Xukun’s attention snapped right back to Zhengting, pulling him closer into his arms. Zhengting wasn’t motionless like the others, in fact he was breathing really quickly, seeming as though he was hyperventilating. With each breath Zhengting took, Xukun’s heart only clenched tighter and tighter. 

Grabbing onto Zhengting’s hand, Xukun tried his best to get Zhengting to clam down, whispering soothing words, running his hand up and down his back. But when nothing worked, Xukun couldn’t deny the helplessness he felt, looking around desperately as though trying to get help. But again, all he saw were people frozen in time.

Then he noticed Yanchen, Ziyi and the remaining three of his men in the mess of motionless figures. Xukun called for them, hoping to find someone, anyone that can help him out, help him make sense of the situation. And it worked.

The few of them stirred slightly before collapsing as though they had suddenly been released by an invisible force holding them back. Once Yanchen had managed to collect himself, he rushed forward towards Xukun.

Meanwhile, Ziyi stayed where he had been, surrounded by a number of frozen figures. Staring down at his own hand, he tried moving them, clenching and unclenching his fist, watching as it did exactly what he wanted it to do. But just a few moment prior, he couldn’t move his fist not matter how hard he had tried.

Looking around him, Ziyi was faced with so many people that he reckoned was going through exactly what he had before, a couple of them looking as though they were half way through their sentences, mouths open, face contorted the way no one would for extended periods of time. 

Walking briskly towards the windows, Ziyi pushed apart the racks of clothes apart, only to see the exact same scene outside.

Everyone was frozen.

The officers guarding the shipment were frozen, their cigarettes continuing to burn away as smoke drifted according to the direction of the wind.

The little girl walking down the street was stationary, even as the ice cream in her hands melted away, making a mess as it dripped down her hands.

The birds on the side of the traffic were stock-still, looking as though they were taxidermies on display in a museum.

Just what have they gotten themselves into.

Quickly describing what he had seen, none of them could deny the way their brains immediately associated everything that was happening with the telepath before them.

“We need to leave, who knows how long Zhengting can maintain this?” Yanchen suggested as Zhengting continued to grow paler and paler by the minute.

“And the whole town just stopped moving, someone is bound to realise this. We need to leave now,” Ziyi insisted.

And with Zhengting in his arms, Xukun and his men hurried onto their car and speeded away, zipping through the many stationary vehicles along the way.

Unknown to them all, as they headed further and further from the town, the frozen figures started collapsing into a deep sleep, starting from the ones furthest away from them. 

And as the last person who had been affected fell to the floor, Zhengting too blacked out, falling limb into Xukun’s arms, little beads of perspiration forming on his forehead.

Again, Zhengting was tucked into bed as Xukun sat on the chair next to him. Besides the fact that the one bruised and battered this time round was the latter, the scene felt awfully familiar. As Xukun continued to caress Zhengting’s hands, Ziyi and Yanchen entered.

“I know how much he means to you, but I just wanted to remind you that he never told us about this before. You know what this can mean right?” Ziyi said, leaving the underlying implication unspoken, “He might have deliberately hid it from us and we would be totally helpless if he ever used it on us.”

“Word is also spreading now, everyone is talking about what happened,” Yanchen added.

Laying a kiss on Zhengting’s fingers, Xukun whispered, “I will handle things with Zhengting when he wakes up. You two should start preparing to move, we can’t stay here anymore.”

Now that news about Zhengting and his powers are spreading publicly, the North would have a legitimate excuse to go searching for him. Besides, if they knew where to send the spy, then they were definitely aware of their location. They’re not safe here, Zhengting’s not safe here.

When Zhengting’s eyes finally fluttered open, the first thing he did was to pull Xukun’s hands, which were interlocked with his, into his embrace.

“You’re safe…” Zhengting thought eyes closing as he buried his face into Xukun’s chest.

“Thank you for saving my life,” Zhengting heard, against the steady thumping of Xukun’s heart.

The two stayed like this, unaware of the time passing by, accompanied only by each other’s heartbeats and hushed breaths. 

Despite how unwilling Zhengting was to part with Xukun, wanting to stay like this forever if he could, he eventually pulled apart so that he could look into the other’s eyes as he said it, “About what I did… I didn’t know… I didn’t hide it from you deliberat-”

Before Zhengting could finish his words, he was cut off as a set of soft, plump lips landed on his own. “I believe you,” Xukun breathed between their kiss.

“You wouldn’t be here if you knew,” Xukun thought to himself.

When they two finally parted, Zhengting feeling as though his breath had been stolen away from him, Xukun couldn’t help but to break the news to mind reader. He told him about the word spreading regarding what had happened, the news about his powers and how people are going to start searching for him.

“Was saving my life worth exposing your powers?” 

Zhengting paused, he hadn’t considered this before, never in his life had he thought that word of his powers would truly get out like this.

“I don’t know if you are more important, but I knew that at that moment, you were the only one I cared about.”

Unlike what one may expect, hearing this hadn’t made Xukun happy, a bitter smile forming on his face. If only Zhengting wasn’t in danger now, if only things had been different, if only they had met under different circumstances. If only…

Collecting himself, Xukun made sure Zhengting was feeling better before helping him up. They had to get ready to leave too, leaving behind this small room that had witnessed their relationship blossom. 

As Zhengting was packing the things he was going to bring along with him, he couldn’t help taking a small sprig of white freesia along with him. Over the past couple of months, Zhengting had finally managed to cover most of his ceiling with those dainty white flowers. Thinking back on all the days he had spent putting them up, he couldn’t help feel sad to leave it behind. “I guess this is goodbye then…”

Watching how reluctant and upset Zhengting was about leaving, Xukun couldn’t deny how shocked yet regretful he felt. Despite how cozy the place may look now, Xukun couldn’t distinctly remember the cold, empty feeling it gave off when Zhengting had been first brought here. As unwilling as Xukun was to admit it, this place had been Zhengting’s prison. And seeing the way the latter had grown attached to it pained him. 

Swearing to himself, Xukun promised to make things right. Zhengting was no longer to be his prisoner, he would give Zhengting the life and the freedom he deserved.

“We may not have met under the best circumstances, but I promise to make it up to you. All the sufferings you endured, let me erase them with all the happy memories you will have from now on.” 

“I stole your life away, but you saved me anyway. Now let me save you instead.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one more to the end of this part of the series! sometimes i do feel a little disheartened because it feels like most of the international fandom has left. but i do enjoy writing for this ship and fandom so to whoever is reading, thank you. it's been a pleasure bringing all this random ideas i have to life and i hope you enjoyed them as much as i did!


	8. Chapter 8

Watching as Xukun led him down the corridor and out of the building, Zhengting couldn’t help notice the changes. While he had been in here for months now, he realised he had only ever walked this path for the fourth time, well awake that is. But unlike how the walkways would always be filled, bustling with life from all the orphans brought in to stay here, Zhengting found the place strangely silent.

They had encountered a couple of people here and then, mostly rushing around, packing whatever they could. But the life from before seemed nowhere to be found. Apparently a couple batches of people had left already, heading towards wherever would be their new home. At this point, Zhengting couldn’t help wonder if he would be a part of this new home, or if he was to be hidden away again.

When they got to the garage, Ziyi and Yanchen, who were facilitating the move, immediately approached as they spotted the two.

“Are you sure about this?” Yanchen asked, to which Xukun gave them a pat on the back.

“Then I guess this is goodbye then,” Ziyi said as he went in for a hug with Xukun.

Hearing the words of goodbye, Zhengting realised things weren’t what he was expecting. They weren’t leaving with them.

After the trio had said their goodbyes, with Xukun leaving whatever they had built together to the remaining two, he pulled Zhengting with him to the car at the end. And only when they were both settled in it did Xukun reveal his plans.

“I am leaving everything to them, no more saving the world for me. We can live a quiet, peaceful life together instead. I will keep my promises and I will keep you safe.”

Unknown to Xukun, while he had intentionally left out the news about the mind reader’s photo and identity being out in the public, Zhengting had already found out about it with his powers when he realised they weren’t leaving with the rest. With his information out like this, Zhengting understood that anyone with him would be in danger, which may be the reason why Xukun wasn’t letting him go with the rest. But by doing this, Xukun was only directing the danger towards himself instead… 

“I contacted your parents. People are going to start looking for them soon when they can’t locate you so I told them to pack too. We’ll go fetch them, we can all head for the small town at the edge of the West. It’s rather quiet there, we should be safe,” Xukun revealed as he started the car, setting off on their one-way journey, leaving the past behind.

While Zhengting’s parents hadn’t had the best experience with Xukun, they had agreed purely for the reason of reuniting with their baby boy. Did they actually intend on leaving with Xukun, especially when he had approached them on his own? No. But when they saw how all of Zhengting’s information was being publicised, they knew they indeed had to leave. Unlike Xukun though, they didn’t have a heads up and thus was unable to arrange any plans or accommodation in time. Hence, leaving with the man that kidnapped their son it is, but maybe they would throw a few punches at him before leaving with their son when it is finally safe in the future.

By some miracle, Xukun, Zhengting and his parents safely arrived at their destination. With the arrangements Xukun had made beforehand, they now had a small two bedroom apartment to rest in as they waited for things to settle down outside. As Zhengting and his parents are the ones everyone was looking for at the moment, they decided that Xukun would be the one to run whatever errands they needed outside. And for the time being, that meant stocking up on food so that they wouldn’t have to leave the house for the next couple of days.

With Xukun out, Zhengting was finally alone with his parents again. While he would love to help his parents unpack and settle in, Zhengting knew that he didn’t have much time left, so he pulled the two into the room that was to be theirs, seating them on the edge of the queen sized bed.

Zhengting kneeled before the two of them, grabbing both of their hands in his own, he pulled them to cup at his cheeks.

“You’ve lost weight. Look at your cheeks, they used to be so round,” Zhengting’s mother said, caressing his cheeks.

“We are sorry we couldn’t protect you,” his dad said, voice full of regret, “You’ve suffered.”

“No, I am the one that brought you two so much trouble. I made you worry,” Zhengting said, pulling them both into a hug.

As time continued to tick away, Zhengting knew he couldn’t afford to wait any longer. As much as it pained him, he knew he needed to act.

Placing a kiss on each of their cheeks, Zhengting forced himself to stay calm. He can’t let them worry anymore, he needed to stay composed, for them.

“Mom, Dad, thank you for everything. I swear I will never forget you,” Zhengting whispered in his parents’ arms. 

Hearing this words, the first reaction they had was to comfort their baby boy. But after hearing Zhengting’s “I love you”, they both could no longer keep their eyes open, their heads fuzzing before they both fell on the telepath, sound asleep, unaware of the way their life had just took a turn.

Snapping his eyes shut, Zhengting had to force himself to breath as images flashed in his head, feeling as though someone had a hold of his heart and was clenching it tightly in their fists.

He could see himself, as a newborn baby, reaching out gingerly to grab at the hand caressing his cheeks.

He could see himself confidently yelling “Potato!” when his parents told him to guess a colour.

He could see himself, as a kid, obediently scribbling away in the study room as his home school teacher taught him the multiplication table from the slightly ajar door.

He could see himself, now eighteen, meekly asking if he could attend university, his hands fiddling with the hem of his pullover.

He could see himself the way his parents saw him, the most precious, obedient baby boy they would have given up the world to protect. But now all that was left of those precious memories were in his head. They wouldn’t recall them anymore, they wouldn’t remember him anymore, they wouldn’t recognise him anymore.

He did this, he took their memories from them.

He was no longer their son, but they will always be his parents.

“Sorry for stealing all these precious memories, I promise I will keep them safe.”

When Xukun came back, Zhengting had already settled his parents into bed. “They were tired after a whole day of travelling,” he claimed.

Hearing that the two seniors were asleep, Xukun immediately crossed the room and pulled Zhengting into an embrace, burying him deep within his arms. Zhengting himself may not have realised it, but Xukun did, the telepath was clearly uneasy about the whole situation, hadn’t quite been able to get himself to relax the entire time.

“No matter what happens, you have me with you. We will get through this together,” Xukun whispered against Zhengting’s hair, tightening his embrace even more.

For a moment, Zhengting stayed silent, his face buried into Xukun’s chest, so the latter just stayed still, providing the comfort Zhengting needed, until he started feeling the wetness against his chest. Zhengting was crying. Instantly, one of Xukun’s hands went ahead and tilted Zhengting’s face up, “It’s ok. You can tell me,” he cooed.

Meeting eyes, Xukun could see Zhengting’s tears falling even more. Breaking their eye contact, Zhengting carelessly wiped at his cheeks, “I’m tired.”

“Let’s get some rest then,” Xukun said, voice gentle, smile unwavering as he landed a kiss on Zhengting’s forehead before leaning forward to sweep the latter’s legs in his arms, carrying him into the empty room.

Lying in bed, with Zhengting still in Xukun’s arms, Xukun ran his hands through his hair at a steady beat, lulling the telepath to sleep. Closing his eyes, Zhengting pretended to sleep and then he felt it, Xukun landing a kiss on his trembling eyelids.

“No matter what others may think, what you may think, you were the greatest gift the world had ever awarded me. You are special, and it’s not your fault.”

Instantly, Zhengting’s tears came running down again as his breathing quickened, “I’m sorry” he kept repeating.

Seeing this Xukun started getting really worried, anxiously trying to comfort the telepath that was starting to cry so hard he was shaking. “No, no. It’s ok, you have nothing to be sorry about. You did nothing wrong. You are safe now, Zhengting, come on breathe with me ok? You are doing great.”

But when all his efforts to calm Zhengting down hadn’t work, Xukun’s heart started shattering again. “It’s all my fault you are like this now. I brought you into this mess, I broke you,” he thought.

Doing everything he could think of, rubbing his back, pecking his forehead, whispering comforting words, Xukun tried his best to comfort Zhengting. And then he started apologising, too.

“I’ve let you down this time round. In another life, let me make it up to you.”

“I’m sorry, it’s all my faul-”

…

…

…

What was Xukun apologising for?

Thinking hard, Xukun tried to recall what he was trying to say but he realised his mind was a fog, all his memories turning into a blur.

What happened?

How did they meet?

Who was this person?

Feeling his eyelids growing heavier and heavier, Xukun could no longer keep his eyes open.

He didn’t recognize who the person before him was. “Why was he crying so hard?” Xukun thought, “Why do I want to make him smile?”

“Why does my heart hurt so much seeing him like this?”

Zhengting doesn’t know how long he spent lying in bed next to an unconscious Xukun, desperately hiding in those strong arms he had grown reliant on, as though they can shield him from this world. Even when his tears had stopped running, his breathing had evened out, feeling as though his heart had stopped beating alongside the memories he stole, Zhengting still couldn’t bear to leave this warm embrace he had come to love and depend on.

It was only when the knocking on the door had grown too loud to ignore that Zhengting finally snapped out of his trance. Yanchen and Ziyi were here.

Both his parents and Xukun had tried to hide it from him, but Zhengting knew that as long as they were with him, they would never be safe. His powers wasn’t just some ill-conceived rumour, so many people had personally witnessed it, experienced it. There was no way anyone was going to let him off once they knew of what he could do. 

Zhengting can’t escape from this, he already knew how he was going to spend the rest of his life, running and hiding. He can’t drag his dear parents or Xukun into this.

This was the only way, he had to let them forget him, it’s the only way to keep them safe. They already knew all there is to know about Zhengting, surely they must know who his parents are. But maybe if they forget about his existence, they will be safe.

However, the biggest reason behind this was the fact that neither his parents nor Xukun would have let him go alone. They would surely chase him to the edge of the world if they had to. And Zhengting can’t let that happen.

So right before Xukun had drove off earlier that day, Zhengting had already told Yanchen of his plans using his powers. And despite how Yanchen had his doubts about this plan, he knew there was no way to change the telepath’s mind. So here he was, with Ziyi by his side, here to bring their buddy back home.

No, they were taking him away from his home. Zhengting was his home.

Right as the duo was about to leave, lugging an unconscious Xukun along, Zhengting carefully took the sprig of white freesia out of his pocket and slipped it gently into Xukun’s.

“In another life, let me be yours again…”

By the time Zhengting was left alone in the small living room of this new apartment, the burden weighing down on his shoulders the entire time had finally lifted off. But with it came a crushing sense of dread as the telepath felt as though he could barely keep himself together.

Everything hurt, his head hurt, his lungs burned, his heart felt numb. But there’s no going back now. What’s done is done, he can’t change the past.

He had to keep going, he can’t afford to let everything he had done go to waste.

There’s no room for regret now. 

Dragging his weary body, Zhengting set foot on his journey to make things right, leaving everything he had behind.

Having been drained of all his energy from using his powers and from all that crying, Zhengting hadn’t been able to move fast, stumbling every few steps he took. And by the time he managed to make it to the nearest city, he had taken twice the amount of time people would usually have needed.

Throughout most of his journey, Zhengting had gone unnoticed. While the Sun may still be out, it was in fact nighttime in their peculiar world, and there was hardly anyone on the streets. But as Zhengting drew closer to the city, and as the people were waking up to start their day, the mind reader found himself under the attention of more and more people.

Without hesitation, he was too far gone now to regret, Zhengting swiftly made his way to the edge of the city, away from the buildings and the people, where the land was promptly cut off, an overwhelming darkness looming from the trench formed between two pieces of land. 

And unsurprisingly, a crowd had started following him out of the bustling lands of the city, into the quieter edge. They kept their distance, perhaps afraid of what he could do, but there was no doubt they knew exactly who he was. Despite their fear though, it seemed their huge numbers had boosted their courage as they made no move to hide the fact that they were following Zhengting, going on to surround him even.

And with every step they took, Zhengting took another step forward, keeping his distance from them.

Until he came face to face with the undeniable gloom of the trench.

Turning back to face the crowd, Zhengting made sure that all those people who had whipped out their phones to film would capture who he was. And with a single thought, got all of them to repeat his words with him. “Don’t go back on your word, you promised me. Find me, please…” the crowd said, echoing along with Zhengting’s whispers of the same words as his feet lifted off the ground, and stepped into nothing.

"I'll be waiting..."

Waking up after what felt like a long, restless sleep, Xukun was about to start his day just like any other, only to realise how different the room looked. While he had later been assured by Ziyi that they had just moved and he was just not used to the new place, Xukun couldn’t deny the gap in that logic, he had no memory of the move.

But this was his two buddies that had been by his side since he was a young, helpless kid, he decided he shall deal with them later after he had some time to rest, his head was hurting so bad he couldn’t think straight at the moment.

With a simple breakfast in his hands, Xukun collapsed into the small couch they had, eyes closed as he listened to the news playing from the television.

“Earlier this morning, the man rumoured to have control over other people’s actions were spotted. According to many witnesses and video recordings, the man had been travelling alone boldly on the streets, seeming as though he had no intention of keeping out of sight.”

He had no idea who the news was referring to, but for some reason, the information managed to slither through his pounding headache. It was like he was drawn to this piece of news, noticing it in the sea of others. Prying his heavy eyelids open, Xukun paid close attention to what the news had to say.

“Many witnesses had claimed to be led to the edge of the city and were controlled to say the words “Don’t go back on your word, you promised me. Find me, please” as the man took his life, jumping off into the trench. Following this, many witnesses were in shock at what had happened and are now receiving help with what they had witnessed …”

As a shaky clip was shown on the screen, Xukun found himself unable to look away, until the figure that was dressed in all black had faded into the never-ending darkness. Alongside the huge crowd, the figure had seemed so small, so helpless.

Xukun may not know who he was, but he felt his heart clenching painfully, until it could feel no longer.

From that point onwards, it was as though something in him had died along with the unfamiliar figure he had seen. The drive and passion he once had had faded, what replaced it was a strange feeling of numbness, as though he was in a bubble, isolated away from the world.

Strangely enough, the only thing that was able to incite any genuine emotions in Xukun were flowers, and it all started when he had reached into his pocket to find a sprig of white flowers. They must have been in there for at least a day now seeing as they are all dry and tattered, stems bent and broken, petals barely holding on. The sight of the poor flowers had tugged at his heart, occupying a place in his mind, making its presence and importance very known to the man who can no longer remember them.

Following his heart, Xukun had carefully preserved the small sprig of flowers as best as he could, pressing them in a book that he may have picked at random, later grew to bring along with him everywhere.

After spending a few months with Ziyi and Yanchen, continuing to help out the people in the South as best as they could, Xukun left, chasing flowers and tranquility.

Bringing his precious sprig of flowers he later found out to be freesias with him, he left his friends, his ambitions, and his past behind. Xukun may not remember it, but deep down he knew that that way of life was not for him, he was no longer the man he used to be.

Settling in a particular small town at the edge of the West which he should have no recollection of, Xukun started life anew there, simple and quiet.

As though it was all meant to be, Xukun opened a flower shop of his own. It may have been tiny, but it managed to introduce a little life into the quiet little town, and maybe into his life too, feeling a gap he didn’t know was there. 

While Zhengting had long left this world, the effect he had lasted long into the future. His parents had passed peacefully, never again remembering those twenty odd years they had with their son.

And Xukun too grew old, living a long and peaceful life away from the action. Tending to his flower shop, watching as people of all ages come in in search of flowers for their loved ones, Xukun too was surrounded by flowers all year round. They brought him an unexplainable sense of comfort, and that was how he managed to keep the shop open without fail every single day throughout all those years.

When he had gotten too old to manage the shop he had grown attached to, Xukun reluctantly passed it down to a young lad in the neighbourhood who had been helping him out with it in the past few years. He had one condition though.

“You must always reserve a bunch of white freesia for me to collect everyday,” he said.

And that he did, everyday without fail.

With Xukun’s delicate care, the flowers often lasted more than a week. And with a new bunch everyday, Xukun’s one room apartment would always be filled with white freesias. 

Then one day, the young lad realised that Xukun hadn’t turn up that day, his bunch of white freesias sitting sadly on the counter waiting for its owner to come pick it up.

Feeling worried for the elder, he went to check on him at his house, and that was where he found Xukun lying in a bed surrounded by white freesias, a streak of tear running down the side of his face.

While Zhengting had managed to keep Xukun’s memories of him away all these years, his magic seemed to have lifted in the latter’s final moments. Instantly, all his memories came surging back, replaying in his head so vividly it was as though barely a day had passed since it had all happened.

Now, finally recognising Zhengting as the figure who had jumped off the edge, Xukun finally understood everything that he felt all these years, the shattering heartbreak, the indifference to the world, the obsession with those small white flowers.

“No wonder I feel empty here all these years,” Xukun whispered as he placed a hand over his heart, “It’s because you weren’t here.”

Feeling joy for the first time in decades, Xukun smiled as he passed, a tear falling from his eyes as he let himself fall into his bed of flowers.

“I can finally be with you now.”

_In another life, I would be your girl_

_We keep all our promises, be us against the world_

_In another life, I would make you stay_

_So I don't have to say you were the one that got away_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's been slightly more than 5 months since i finished conceptualising this fic, i never thought i'll end up taking so long to get here but this year has been rough. i still remember how i was tearing on my own when i wrote down the outline for this chapter, and throughout the whole time i was writing this chapter, i couldn't keep myself together. i thought the marks on you are like black ink on fresh snow was bad enough, didn't think i could make myself cry even more than that.
> 
> to all those who were here on the ride along with me, thank you. i admit at times i wonder to myself if anyone was even reading this anymore, but then i see 1 comment, 1 kudo and i think yeah people are still around. thank you for all the time you shared with me reading this, i hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> there's will be one more epilogue chapter published as another work in this series so do keep a look out for that! and to all those who wants more feels for this chapter, you can listen to the cover of the one that got away on youtube posted by a paradise bird. that was what i did writing this chapter and now i cannot bring myself to listen to it anymore haha (the lyrics in italics at the end is from that song btw)
> 
> and final fun fact: “White freesias symbolise purity and innocence. They are one of the most popular wedding flowers because they are symbolic of the purity of the bride as well as the trust between the couple.”


End file.
